THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


'    • 


EIGHT  YEARS'  WANDERINGS 


IN 


CEYLON. 


THE  LAST  PIA'NGE. 


UUIXS  AT  POLLANABUA. 


Page  70. 


r  H  I  L  A  1)  E  I,  P  II  I  A  : 
.1.   B.   LTPPTNCOTT   &   CO. 


EIGHT  YEARS'  WANDERINGS 


IN 


CEYLON. 


BY    SIR  SAMUEL   W.    BAKER, 

AUTHOR  OF  "THE  RIFLE  AND  THE  HOUND  IN  CBYLON,"  "CAST  UP  BY 
THE  SEA,"  "THE  ALBERT  N'YANZA,"  ETC. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PHILADELPHIA 

J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 

1874. 


LIPPINCOTT'S  PRESS,   PHILADELPHIA. 


e. 


PREFACE. 


EIGHT  years'  wanderings  in  Ceylon  have  created  a  love 
for  this  beautiful  island  which  can  only  be  equaled  by 
my  affection  for  Old  England,  from  which  the  independence  of 
a  wild  life,  combined  with  an  infatuation  for  rambling  into 
every  unvisited  nook  and  corner,  sentenced  me  to  a  term  of 
voluntary  exile. 

During  this  period  my  delight  has  been  in  tracing  the  great 
natural  resources  of  the  country,  in  observing  the  immense 
relics  of  its  former  prosperity,  and  contrasting  the  past  gran- 
deur and  energy  of  an  extinct  race  with  the  apathetic  and 
selfish  policy  of  our  present  system. 

It  is  the  false  economy  of  our  present  government  to  leave 
untested  the  actual  capabilities  of  its  possessions.  Thus,  while 
Ceylon  remains  with  ruined  tanks,  deserted  cities  and  vast  tracts 
of  uncultivated  rice-lands,  India,  governed  by  the  Company,  is 
advancing  in  cultivation.*  New  tanks  are  formed,  new  canals 
for  irrigation  penetrate  through  hitherto  barren  jungles,  and 
arouse  the  soil  to  fertility.  In  fact,  the  vigilant  eye  of  the 
Company  is  directed  to  the  true  resources  of  the  country,  and 
every  acre  of  available  land  must  yield  its  proportion  to  the 
revenue. 

Without  the  statistical  details  which  would  render  a  de- 
scription laborious  to  the  general  reader,  I  shall  endeavor 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  government  of  India  has  been  transferred  from 
the  East  India  Company  to  the  Crown. 

1*  5 


Si; 


6  Preface. 

to  give  an  impartial  picture  of  Ceylon  as  it  is,  touching 
lightly  upon  the  past,  in  order  to  prove  the  possibility  of  im- 
provement for  the  future.  Having  given  an  account  of  the 
sports  of  the  country  in  the  «  Rifle  and  Hound,"  I  shall  not 
dwell  at  too  great  length  upon  this  topic,  how  tempting  soever 
it  may  be. 

In  these  days,  when  the  enterprise  of  Englishmen  is  ex- 
hibited on  so  large  a  scale  by  the  stream  of  emigration  to 
foreign  shores,  a  few  hints  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  the 
intending  settler.  We  are  all  more  or  less  sanguine,  and,  if 
unguided  by  the  experience  of  age,  we  are  apt  to  paint  the 
future  too  brightly.  This  is  an  error  which  entails  disappoint- 
ment and  regret  upon  the  hasty  emigrant,  who  may  discover, 
when  far  from  his  deserted  home,  that  the  paradise  which  he 
had  pictured  to  himself  is  but  earthly, after  all,  and  is  accom- 
panied by  drawbacks  and  hardships  which  he  had  not  an- 
ticipated. 

It  is  not  every  temperament  that  is  fitted  for  the  anxieties 
of  a  wild  life  in  a  strange  land.  This  many  persons  who  have 
left  England  confident  in  their  own  strength  have  discovered, 
unfortunately,  when  too  late. 

Englishmen,  however,  are  naturally  endowed  with  a  spirit 
of  adventure.  There  is  in  the  heart  of  all  of  us  a  germ  of 
freedom  which  longs  to  break  through  the  barriers  that  confine 
us  to  our  own  shores  ;  and  as  the  newborn  wildfowl  takes  to 
water  from  its  deserted  egg-shell,  so  we  wander  over  the  world 
when  launched  on  our  own  resources. 

This  innate  spirit  of  action  is  the  mainspring  of  the  power 
of  England.  Go  where  you  will,  from  north  to  south  and 
from  east  to  west,  you  meet  an  Englishman.  Sail  round  the 
globe,  and  upon  every  point  of  strength  the  Union  Jack  glad- 
dens your  eye,  and  you  think  with  wonder  of  the  vast  pos- 
sessions which  have  been  conquered,  and  the  immense  tracts 


Preface.  7 

of  country  which  have  been  peopled,  by  the  overflow  of  our 
little  island. 

Among  the  list  of  possessions,  Ceylon  is  but  a  speck  ; 
nevertheless  the  act  of  settling  in  one  colony  is  a  fair  sample 
of  the  general  hardships  of  emigration.  I  shall  therefore  in- 
troduce a  slight  sketch  of  a  settlement  in  Ceylon,  which  may 
give  some  insight  into  the  little  disappointments  inseparable 
from  a  new  enterprise.  The  reader  will,  I  trust,  wander  with 
me  in  my  rambles  through  this  lovely  country,  and  endeavor  to 
pass  an  idle  hour  among  the  scenes  portrayed. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER    I. 

PAQI 

Colombo— Dullness  of  the  Town — Cinnamon  Gardens — A_Cin- 
galese  Appo — Ceylon  Sport — Jungle  Fever — Newera  Ellia — 
Energy  of  Sir  E.  Barnes — Influence  of  the  Governor — Pro- 
jected Improvements 15 

CHAPTER    II. 

Past  Scenes — Attractions  of  Ceylon — Emigration — Difficulties 
in  Settling — Accidents  and  Casualties — An  Eccentric  Groom — 
Insubordination — Commencement  of  Cultivation — Sagacity  of 
the  Elephant— Disappointments— "  Death"  in  the  Settlement — 
Shocking  Pasturage — Success  of  Emigrants — "A  Good  Knock- 
about kind  of  a  Wife" 25 

CHAPTER    III. 

Task  Completed — The  Mountain-top — Change  in  the  Face  of 
Nature — Original  Importance  of  Newera  Ellia — "The  Path 
of  a  Thousand  Princes" — Vestiges  of  Former  Population — 
Mountains — The  Highlands  of  Ouva — Ancient  Methods  of 
Irrigation — Remains  of  Aqueducts — The  Vale  of  Rubies — 
Ancient  Ophir — Discovery  of  Gold — Mineral  Resources — 

Native  Blacksmiths 39 

9 


io  Contents. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

PAGE 

Poverty  of  Soil— Ceylon  Sugar— Fatality  of  Climate— Supposed 
Fertility  of  Soil — Native  Cultivation — Neglect  of  Rice  Culti- 
vation— Abandoned  Reservoirs — Former  Prosperity— Ruins  of 
Cities— Pollanarua— The  Great  Dagoba — Architectural  Relics 
— The  Rock  Temple — Destruction  of  Population — Neglected 
Capabilities — Suggestions  for  Increasing  Population — Progress 
of  Pestilence — Deserted  Villages — Difficulties  in  the  Cultiva- 
tion of  Rice — Division  of  Labor — Native  Agriculture 58 

CHAPTER    V. 

Real  Cost  of  Land — Want  of  Cpmmunication — Coffee-planting — 
Comparison  between  French  and  English  Settlers — Landslips 
— Forest-clearing — Manuring — The  Coffee  Bug — Rats — Fatted 
Stock — Suggestions  for  Sheep-farming — Attack  of  a  Leopard 
— Leopards  and  Chetahs — Boy  Devoured — Traps — Musk  Cats 
and  the  Mongoose — Vermin  of  Ceylon 8l 

CHAPTER    VI. 

"Game  Eyes"  for  Wild  Sports — Enjoyments  of  Wild  Life — 
Cruelty  of  Sports — Native  Hunters — Moormen  Traders — 
Their  wretched  Guns — Rifles  and  Smooth-bores — Heavy  Balls 
and  Heavy  Metal — Beattie's  Rifles— Balls  and  Patches— Ex- 
periments— The  Double-groove — Power  of  Heavy  Metal — 
Curious  Shot  at  a  Bull  Elephant — African  and  Ceylon  Ele- 
phants— Structure  of  Skull — Lack  of  Trophies — Boar-spears 
and  Hunting-knives — "Bertram" — A  Boar  Hunt — Fatal  Cut.  104 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Curious  Phenomenon — Panorama  of  Ouva — South-west  Mon- 
soon— Hunting  Followers — Fort  M'Donald  River — Jungle 
Paths — Dangerous  Locality— Great  Waterfall— Start  for  Hunt- 


Contents.  1 1 

PAGE 

, ing— The  Find — A  Gallant  Stag — "Bran"  and  "Lucifer"— 
"  Phrenzy's"  Death— Buck  at  Bay — The  Cave  Hunting-box  — 
"Madcap's"  Dive— Elk  Soup — Former  Inundation — "Blue- 
beard" leads  off—"  Hecate's"  Course— The  Elk's  Leap— Vari- 
ety of  Deer — The  Axis— Ceylon  Bears — Variety  of  Vermin — 
Trials  for  Hounds — Hounds  and  their  Masters — A  Sportsman 
"  shut  up"— A  Corporal  and  Centipede 132 

CHAPTER    VIIL 

Observations  on  Nature  in  the  Tropics — The  Dung  Beetle — The 
Mason-fly— "Spiders — Luminous  Insects — Efforts  of  a  Natural- 
ist— Dogs  Worried  by  Leeches — Tropical  Diseases— Malaria- 
Causes  of  Infection — Disappearance  of  the  "  Mina" — Poison- 
ous Water — Well-digging  Elephants 175, 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Instinct  and  Reason— Tailor  Birds  and  Grosbeaks — The  White 
Ant — Black  Ants  at  War — Wanderoo  Monkeys — Habits  of 
Elephants — Elephants  in  the  Lake— Herd  of  Elephants  Bath- 
ing—  Elephant-shooting  —  The  Rencontre  —  The  Charge  — 
Caught  by  the  Tail — Horse  Gored  by  a  Buffalo — Sagacity  of 
Dogs — "  Bluebeard" — His  Hunt— A  True  Hound 194 

CHAPTER    X. 

Wild  Fruits — Ingredients  for  a  "  Soupe  Maigre" — Orchidaceous 
Plants— Wild  Nutmegs — Native  Oils— Cinnamon— Primeval 
Forests— Valuable  Woods— The  Mahawelli  River — Variety  of 
Palms — Cocoa-nut  Toddy — Arrack — Cocoa-nut  Oil — Cocoa- 
nut-planting— The  Talipot  Palm— The  Areca  Palm— Betel 
Chewing— Sago  Nuts— Variety  of  Bees— Waste  of  Beeswax- 
Edible  Fungi — Narcotic  Puff-ball — Intoxicating  Drugs — Pois- 
oned Cakes— The  "  Sack  Tree" — No  Gum  Trees  of  Value  in 
Ceylon 219 


12  Contents. 

CHAPTER    XI. 

PAOI 

Indigenous  Productions — Botanical  Gardens — Suggested  Experi- 
ments— Lack  of  Encouragement  to  Gold-diggers — Prospects 
of  Gold-digging — We  want  "  Nuggets." — Who  is  to  Blame  ? — 
Governor's  Salary— Fallacies  of  a  Five  Years'  Reign — Ne- 
glected Education  of  the  People — Responsibilities  of  Conquest 
— Progress  of  Christianity 256 

CHAPTER    XII. 

The  Pearl  Fishery— Desolation  of  the  Coast— Harbor  of  Trin- 
comalee — Fatal  Attack  by  a  Shark — Ferocious  Crocodiles — Salt 
Monopoly — Salt  Lakes — Method  of  Collection — Neglect  of 
Ceylon  Hides — Fish  and  Fishing — Primitive  Tackle — Oysters 
and  Penknives — A  Night  Bivouac  for  a  Novice — No  Dinner, 
but  a  Good  Fire — Wild  Yams  and  Consequences — The  Ele- 
phants' Duel— A  Hunting  Hermitage — Bluebeard's  last  Hunt 
— The  Leopard— Bluebeard's  Death— Leopard  Shot 281 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

Wild  Denizens  of  Forest  and  Lake— Destroyers  of  Reptiles— 
The  Tree  Duck— The  Mysteries  of  Night  in  the  Forest— The 
Devil-Bird — The  Iguanodon  in  Miniature — Outrigger  Canoes 
—The  Last  Glimpse  of  Ceylon — A  Glance  at  Old  Times. ...  310 


EIGHT  YEARS'  WANDERINGS. 


CHAPTER    I. 


COLOMBO — DULLNESS     OF    THE    TOWN— CINNAMON    GARDENS — 
A     CINGALESE     APPO — CEYLON     SPORT— JUNGLE      FEVER — 
NEWERA   ELLIA — ENERGY   OF    SIR    E."  BARNES — INFLUENCE 
OF   THE    GOVERNOR — PROJECTED    IMPROVEMENTS. 
I 

IT  was  in  the  year  1845  that  the  spirit  of  wandering 
allured  me  toward  Ceylon :  little  did  I  imagine  at 
that  time  that  I  should  eventually  become  a  settler. 

The  descriptions  of  its  sports,  and  the  tales  of  hair- 
breadth escapes  from  elephants,  which  I  had  read  in 
various  publications,  were  sources  of  attraction  against 
which  I  strove  in  vain  ;  and  I  at  length  determined 
upon  the  very  wild  idea  of  spending  twelve  months  in 
Ceylon  jungles. 

It  is  said  that  the  delights  of  pleasures  in  anticipa- 
tion exceed  the  pleasures  themselves :  in  this  case 
doubtless  some  months  of  great  enjoyment  passed  in 
making  plans  of  every  description,  until  I  at  length 
arrived  in  Colombo,  Ceylon's  seaport  capital. 

I  never  experienced  greater  disappointment  in  an  ex- 
pectation than  on  my  first  view  of  Colombo.  I  had 

15 


1 6          Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

spent  some  time  at  Mauritius  and  Bourbon  previous  to 
my  arrival,  and  I  soon  perceived  that  the  far-famed 
Ceylon  was  nearly  a  century  behind  either  of  those 
small  islands. 

Instead  of  the  bustling  activity  of  the  Port  Louis 
harbor  in  Mauritius,  there  were  a  few  vessels  rolling 
about  in  the  roadstead,  and  some  forty  or  fifty  fishing 
canoes  hauled  up  on  the  sandy  beach.  There  was  a 
peculiar  dullness  throughout  the  town — a  sort  of  some- 
thing which  seemed  to  say,  "  Coffee  does  not  pay." 
There  was  a  want  of  spirit  in  everything.  The  ill- 
conditioned  guns  upon  the  fort  looked  as  though  not 
intended  to  defend  it ;  the  sentinels  looked  parboiled  ; 
the  very  natives  sauntered  rather  than  walked ;  the 
bullocks  crawled  along  in  the  midday  sun,  listlessly 
dragging  the  native  carts.  Everything  and  everybody 
seemed  enervated,  except  those  frightfully  active  people 
in  all  countries  and  climates,  "the  custom-house 
officers  :"  these  necessary  plagues  to  society  gave  their 
usual  amount  of  annoyance. 

What  struck  me  the  most  forcibly  in  Colombo  was 
the  want  of  shops.  In  Port  Louis  the  wide  and  well- 
paved  streets  were  lined  with  excellent  "  magasins"  of 
every  description  ;  here,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  difficult 
to  find  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  shop  until  I  was  in- 
troduced to  a  soi-disant  store,  where  everything  was  to 
be  purchased  from  a  needle  to  a  crowbar,  and  from 
satin  to  sail-cloth  ;  the  useful  predominating  over  the 
ornamental  in  all  cases.  It  was  all  on  a  poor  scale  ; 
and  after  several  inquiries  respecting  the  best  hotel,  I 
located  myself  at  that  termed  the  Royal  or  Seager's 
Hotel.  This  was  airy,  white  and  clean  throughout ; 
but  there  was  a  barn-like  appearance,  as  there  is 


Cinnamon  Gardens.  iy 

throughout  most  private  dwellings  in  Colombo,  which 
banished  all  idea  of  comfort. 

A  good  tiffin  concluded,  which  produced  a  happier 
state  of  mind,  I  ordered  a  carriage  for  a  drive  to  the 
Cinnamon  Gardens.  The  general  style  of  Ceylon 
carriages  appeared  in  the  shape  of  a  caricature  of  a 
hearse :  this  goes  by  the  name  of  a  palanquin  carriage. 
Those  usually  hired  are  drawn  by  a  single  horse,  whose 
natural  vicious  propensities  are  restrained  by  a  low 
system  of  diet 

In  this  vehicle,  whose  gaunt  steed  was  led  at  a  mel- 
ancholy trot  by  an  equally  small-fed  horsekeeper,  I 
traversed  the  environs  of  Colombo.  Through  the 
winding  fort  gateway,  across  the  flat  Galle  Face  (the 
race-course),  freshened  by  the  sea-breeze  as  the  waves 
break  upon  its  western  side  ;  through  the  Colpetty — 
topes  of  cocoanut  trees  shading  the  road,  and  the 
houses  of  the  better  class  of  European  residents  to  the 
right  and  left ;  then  turning  to  the  left — a  few  minutes 
of  expectation — and  behold  the  Cinnamon  Gardens ! 

What  fairy-like  pleasure-grounds  have  we  fondly  an- 
ticipated !  what  perfumes  of  spices,  and  all  that  our 
childish  imaginations  had  pictured  as  the  ornamental 
portions  of  a  cinnamon  garden  ! 

A  vast  area  of  scrubby,  low  jungle,  composed  of 
cinnamon  bushes,  is  seen  to  the  right  and"  left,  before 
and  behind.  Above,  is  a  cloudless  sky  and  a  broiling 
sun  ;  below,  is  snow-white  sand  of  quartz,  curious  only 
in  the  possibility  of  its  supporting  vegetation.  Such 
is  the  soil  in  which  the  cinnamon  delights ;  such  are 
the  Cinnamon  Gardens,  in  which  I  delight  not.  They 
are  an  imposition,  and  they  only  serve  as  an  addition 
to  the  disappointments  of  a  visitor  to  Colombo.  In 
2*  B 


1 8          Eight  Tears'   Wandering?  in  Ceylon. 

fact,  the  whole  place  is  a  series  of  disappointments. 
You  see  a  native  woman  clad  in  snow-white  petticoats, 
a  beautiful  tortoiseshell  comb  fastened  in  her  raven 
hair  ;  you  pass  her — you  look  back — wonderful !  she 
has  a  beard !  Deluded  stranger,  this  is  only  another 
disappointment ;  it  is  a  Cingalese  Appo — a  man — no, 
not  a  man — a  something  male  in  petticoats ;  a  petty 
thief,  a  treacherous,  cowardly  villain,  who  would  per- 
petrate the  greatest  rascality  had  he  only  the  pluck  to 
dare  it.  In  fact,  in  this  petticoated  wretch  you  see  a 
type  of  the  nation  of  Cingalese. 

On  the  morning  following  my  arrival  in  Ceylon,  I 
was  delighted  to  see  several  persons  seated  at  the 
"  table-d'hote"  when  I  entered  the  room,  as  I  was  most 
anxious  to  gain  some  positive  information  respecting 
the  game  of  the°*island,  the  best  localities,  etc.,  etc.  I 
was  soon  engaged  in  conversation,  and  one  of  my  first 
questions  naturally  turned  upon  sport. 

"Sport!"  exclaimed  two  gentlemen  simultaneously 
— '•'•sport!  there  is  no  sport  to  be  had  in  Ceylon  !" — "at 
least  the  race-week  is  the  only  sport  that  I  know  of," 
said  the  taller  gentleman. 

"No  sport!"  said  I,  half  energetically  and  half  des- 
pairingly. "Absurd!  every  book  on  Ceylon  mentions 
the  amount  of  game  as  immense ;  and  as  to  ele- 
phants— " 

Here  I  was  interrupted  by  the  same  gentleman. 
"All  gross  exaggerations,"  said  he — "gross  exaggera- 
tions ;  in  fact,  inventions  to  give  interest  to  a  book.  I 
have  an  estate  in  the  interior,  and  I  have  never  seen  a 
wild  elephant.  There  may  be  a  few  in  the  jungles  of 
Ceylon,  but  very  few,  and  you  never  see  them." 

I  began   to  discover   the    stamp  of  my  companion 


Jungle  Fever.  19 

from  his  expression,  "You  never  see  them."  Of  course 
I  concluded  that  he  had  never  looked  for  them  ;  and  I 
began  to  recover  from  the  first  shock  which  his  ex- 
clamation, "  There  is  no  sport  in  Ceylon  !"  had  given 
me. 

I  subsequently  discovered  that  my  new  and  non- 
sporting  acquaintances  were  coffee-planters  of  a  class 
then  known  as  the  Galje  Face  planters,  who  passed 
their  time  in  cantering  about  the  Colombo  race-course 
and  idling  in  the  town,  while  their  estates  lay  a  hundred 
miles  distant,  uncared  for  and  naturally  ruining  their 
proprietors. 

That  same  afternoon,  to  my  delight  and  surprise,  I 
met  an  old  Gloucestershire  friend  in  an  officer  of  the 
Fifteenth  Regiment,  then  stationed  in  Ceylon.  From 
him  I  soon  learnt  that  the  character  of  Ceylon  for 
game  had  never  been  exaggerated  ;  and  from  that  mo- 
ment my  preparations  for  the  jungle  commenced. 

I  rented  a  good  airy  house  in  Colombo  as  head- 
quarters, and  the  verandas  were  soon  strewed  with 
jungle-baskets,  boxes,  tent,  gun-cases,  and  all  the  para- 
phernalia of  a  shooting  trip. 

****** 

What  unforeseen  and  apparently  trivial  incidents 
may  upset  all  our  plans  for  the  future  and  turn  our 
whole  course  of  life  ! 

At  the  expiration  of  twelve  months  my  shooting 
trips  and  adventures  were  succeeded  by  so  severe  an 
attack  of  jungle  fever  that  from  a  naturally  robust 
frame  I  dwindled  to  a  mere  nothing,  and  very  little  of 
my  former  self  remained.  The  first  symptom  of  con- 
valescence was  accompanied  by  a  peremptory  order 
from  my  medical  attendant  to  start  for  the  highlands, 


2O          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

to  the  mountainous  region  of  Newera  Ellia,  the  sanita- 
rium of  the  island. 

A  poor,  miserable  wretch  I  was  upon  my  arrival  at 
this  elevated  station,  suffering  not  only  from  the  fever 
itself,  but  from  the  feeling  of  an  exquisite  debility  that 
creates  an  utter  hopelessness  of  the  renewal  of  strength. 

I  was  only  a  fortnight  at  Newera  Ellia.  The  rest- 
house  or  inn  was  the  perfection  of  everything  that  was 
dirty  and  uncomfortable.  The  toughest  possible  speci- 
men of  a  beef-steak,  black  bread  and  potatoes  were 
the  choicest  and  only  viands  obtainable  for  an  invalid. 
There  was  literally  nothing  else  ;  it  was  a  land  of 
starvation.  But  the  climate!  what  can  I  say  to  de- 
scribe the  wonderful  effects  of  such  a  pure  and  unpol- 
luted air?  Simply,  that  .at  the  expiration  of  a  fort- 
night, in  spite  of  the  tough  beef,  and  the  black  bread 
and  potatoes,  I  was  as  well  and  as  strong  as  I  ever  had 
been ;  and  in  proof  of  this  I  started  instanter  for 
another  shooting  excursion  in  the  interior. 

It  was  impossible  to  have  visited  Newera  Ellia,  and 
to  have  benefited  in  such  a  wonderful  manner  by  the 
climate,  without  contemplating  with  astonishment  its 
poverty-stricken  and  neglected  state. 

At  that  time  it  was  the  most  miserable  place  con- 
ceivable. There  was  a  total  absence  of  all  ideas  of 
comfort  or  arrangement.  The  houses  were  for  the 
most  part  built  of  such  unsubstantial  materials  as  stick 
and  mud  plastered  over  with  mortar — pretty  enough  in 
exterior,  but  rotten  in  ten  or  twelve  years.  The  only 
really  good  residence  was  a  fine  stone  building  erected 
by  Sir  Edward  Barnes  when  governor  of  Ceylon.  To 
him  alone  indeed  are  we  indebted  for  the  existence  of 
a  sanitarium.  It  was  he  who  opened  the  road,  not 


Newera  Ellia.  21 

only  to  Newera  Ellia,  but  for  thirty-six  miles  farther 
on  the  same  line  to  Badulla.  At  his  own  expense  he 
built  a  substantial  mansion  at  a  cost,  as  it  is  said,  of 
eight  thousand  pounds,  and  with  provident  care  for 
the  health  of  the  European  troops,  he  erected  barracks 
and  officers'  quarters  for  the  invalids. 

Under  his  government  Newera  Ellia  was  rapidly  be- 
coming a  place  of  importance,  but  unfortunately  at  the 
expiration  of  his  term  the  place  became  neglected. 
His  successor  took  no  interest  in  the  plans  of  his  pre- 
decessor ;  and  from  that  period,  each  successive  gover- 
nor being  influenced  by  an  increasing  spirit  of  parsi- 
mony, Newera  Ellia  has  remained  "  in  statu  quo,"  not 
even  having  been  visited  by  the  present  governor. 

In  a  small  colony  like  Ceylon  it  is  astonishing  how 
the  movements  and  opinions  of  the  governor  influence 
the  public  mind.  In'  the  present  instance,  however, 
the  movements  of  the  governor  (Sir  G.  Anderson)  can- 
not carry  much  weight,  as  he  does  not  move  at  all, 
with  the  exception  of  an  occasional  drive  from  Colombo 
to  Kandy.  His  knowledge  of  the  colony  and  of  its 
wants  or  resources  must  therefore,  from  his  personal 
experience,  be  limited  to  the  Kandy  road.  This 
apathy,  when  exhibited  by  her  Majesty's  representative, 
is  highly  contagious  among  the  public  of  all  classes 
and  colors,  and  cannot  have  other  than  a  bad  moral 
tendency. 

Upon  my  first  visit  to  Newera  Ellia,  in  1847,  Lord 
Torrington  was  the  governor  of  Ceylon,  a  man  of 
active  mind,  with  an  ardent  desire  to  test  its  real  capa- 
bilities and  to  work  great  improvements  in  the  colony. 
Unfortunately,  his  term  as  governor  was  shorter  than 
was  expected.  The  elements  of  discord  were  at  that 


22          Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

time  at  work  among  all  classes  in  Ceylon,  and  Lord 
Torrington  was  recalled. 

From  the  causes  of  neglect  described,  Newera  Eliia 
was  in  the  deserted  and  wretched  state  in  which  I  saw 
it ;  but  so  infatuated  was  I  in  the  belief  that  its  import- 
ance must  be  appreciated  when  the  knowledge  of  its 
climate  was  more  widely  extended  that  I  looked  for- 
ward to  its  becoming  at  some  future  time  a  rival  to  the 
Neilgherries  station  in  India.  My  ideas  were  based 
upon  the  natural  features  of  the  place,  combined  with 
its  requirements. 

It  apparently  produced  nothing  except  potatoes.  The 
soil  was  supposed  to  be  as  good  as  it  appeared  to  be. 
The  quality  of  the  water  and  the  supply  were  unques- 
tionable ;  the  climate  could  not  be  surpassed  for  salu- 
brity. There  was  a  carriage  road  from  Colombo,  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  miles,  and  from  Kandy,  forty-seven 
miles ;  the  last  thirteen  being  the  Rambodde  Pass, 
arriving  at  an  elevation  of  six  thousand  six  hundred 
feet,  from  which  point  a  descent  of  two  miles  termi- 
nated the  road  to  Newera  Ellia. 

The  station  then  consisted  of  about  twenty  private 
residences,  the  barracks  and  officers'  quarters,  the  rest- 
house  and  the  bazaar ;  the  latter  containing  about  two 
hundred  native  inhabitants. 

Bounded  upon  all  sides  but  the  east  by  high  moun- 
tains, the  plain  of  Newera  Ellia  lay  like  a  level  valley 
of  about  two  miles  in  length  by  half  a  mile  in  width, 
bordered  by  undulating  grassy  knolls  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains.  Upon  these  spots  of  elevated  ground  most 
of  the  dwellings  were  situated,  commanding  a  view  of 
the  plain,  with  the  river  winding  through  its  centre. 
The  mountains  were 'clothed  from  the  base  to  the  sum- 


Projected  Improvements.  23 

mit  with  dense  forests,  containing  excellent  timber  for 
building  purposes.  Good  building-stone  was  procurable 
everywhere ;  limestone  at  a  distance  of  five  miles. 

The  whole  of  the  adjacent  country  was  a  repetition 
of  the  Nevvera  Ellia  plain  with  slight  variations,  com- 
prising a  vast  extent  of  alternate  swampy  plains  and 
dense  forests. 

Why  should  this  place  lie  idle?  Why  should  this 
great  tract  of  country  in  such  a  lovely  climate  be  un- 
tenanted  and  uncultivated?  How  often  I  have  stood 
upon  the  hills  and  asked  myself  this  question  when 
gazing  over  the  wide  extent  of  undulating  forest  and 
plain  !  How  often  I  have  thought  of  the  thousands  of 
starving  wretches  at  home,  who  here  might  earn  a 
comfortable  livelihood !  and  I  have  scanned  the  vast 
tract  of  country,  and  in  my  imagination  I  have  cleared 
the  dark  forests  and  substituted  waving  crops  of  corn, 
and  peopled  a  hundred  ideal  cottages  A'ith  a  thriving 
peasantry. 

Why  should  not  the  highlands  of  Ceylon,  with  an 
Italian  climate,  be  rescued  from  their  state  of  barren- 
ness ?  Why  should  not  the  plains  be  drained,  the  for- 
ests felled,  and  cultivation  take  the  place  of  the  rank 
pasturage,  and  supplies  be  produced  to  make  Ceylon 
independent  of  other  countries  ?  Why  should  not  schools 
be  established,  a  comfortable  hotel  be  erected,  a  church 
be  built?  In  fact,  why  should  Newera  Ellia,  with  its 
wonderful  climate,  so  easily  attainable,  be  neglected  in 
a  country  like  Ceylon,  proverbial  for  its  unhealthiness? 

These  were  my  ideas  when  I  first  visited  Neweni 
Ellia,  before  I  had  much  experience  in  either  people  or 
things  connected  with  the  island. 

My  twelve  months'  tour  in  Ceylon  being  completed, 


24          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

I  returned  to  England  delighted  with  what  I  had  seen 
of  Ceylon  in  general,  but,  above  all,  with  my  short 
visit  to  Newera  Ellia,  malgre  its  barrenness  and  want 
of  comfort,  caused  rather  by  the  neglect  of  man  than 
by  the  lack  of  resources  in  the  locality. 


CHAPTER    II. 

PAST  SCENES — ATTRACTIONS  OF  CEYLON — EMIGRATION — DIFFI- 
CULTIES IN  SETTLING — ACCIDENTS  AND  CASUALTIES — AN 
ECCENTRIC  GROOM  —  INSUBORDINATION — COMMENCEMENT 
OF  CULTIVATION — SAGACITY  OF  THE  ELEPHANT — DISAP- 
POINTMENTS— "  DEATH  "  IN  THE  SETTLEMENT — SHOCKING 
PASTURAGE — SUCCESS  OF  EMIGRANTS — "A  GOOD  KNOCK- 
ABOUT KIND  OF  A  WIFE." 

I  HAD  not  been  long  in  England  before  I  discovered 
that  my  trip  to  Ceylon  had  only  served  to  upset  all 
ideas  of  settling  down  quietly  at  home.  Scenes  of 
former  sports  and  places  were  continually  intruding 
themselves  upon  my  thoughts,  and  I  longed  to  be  once 
more  roaming  at  large  with  the  rifle  through  the  noise- 
less wildernesses  in  Ceylon.  So  delightful  were  the 
recollections  of  past  incidents  that  I  could  scarcely 
believe  that  it  lay  within  my  power  to  renew  them. 
Ruminating  over  all  that  had  happened  within  the  past 
year,  I  conjured  up  localities  to  my  memory  which 
seemed  too  attractive  to  have  existed  in  reality.  I  wan- 
dered along  London  streets,  comparing  the  noise  and 
bustle  with  the  deep  solitudes  of  Ceylon,  and  I  felt  like 
the  sickly  plants  in  a  London  parterre.  I  wanted  the 
change  to  my  former  life.  I  constantly  found  myself 
gazing  into  gunmakers'  shops,  and  these  I  sometimes 
entered  abstractedly  to  examine  some  rifle  exposed  in 
3  25 


26          Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

the  window.  Often  have  I  passed  an  hour  in  boring 
the  unfortunate  gunmakers  to  death  by  my  suggestions 
for  various  improvements  in  rifles  and  guns,  which,  as 
I  was  not  a  purchaser,  must  have  been  extremely 
edifying. 

Time  passed,  and  the  moment  at  length  arrived  when 
I  decided  once  more  to  see  Ceylon.  I  determined  to 
become  a  settler  at  Newera  Ellia,  where  I  could  reside 
in  a  perfect  climate,  and  nevertheless  enjoy  the  sports 
of  the  low  country  at  my  own  will. 

Thus,  the  recovery  from  a  fever  in  Ceylon  was  the 
hidden  cause  of  my  settlement  at  Newera  Ellia.  The 
infatuation  for  sport,  added  to  a  gypsy-like  love  of  wan- 
dering and  complete  independence,  thus  dragged  me 
away  from  home  and  from  a  much-loved  circle. 

In  my  determination  to  reside  at  Newera  Ellia,  I 
hoped  to  be  able  to  carry  out  some  of  those  visionary 
plans  for  its  improvement  which  I  have  before  sug- 
gested ;  and  I  trusted  to  be  enabled  to  effect  such  a 
change  in  the  rough  face  of  Nature  in  that  locality  as 
to  render  a  residence  at  Newera  Ellia  something  ap- 
proaching to  a  country  life  in  England,  with  the  advan- 
tage of  the  whole  of  Ceylon  for  my  manor,  and  no 
expense  of  gamekeepers. 

To  carry  out  these  ideas  it  was  necessary  to  set  to 
work ;  and  I  determined  to  make  a  regular  settlement 
at  Newera  Ellia,  sanguinely  looking  forward  to  estab- 
lishing a  little  English  village  around  my  own  resi- 
dence. 

Accordingly,  I  purchased  an  extensive  tract  of  land 
from  the  government,  at  twenty  shillings  per  acre.  I 
engaged  an  excellent  bailiff,  who,  with  his  wife  and 
daughter,  with  nine  other  emigrants,  including  a  black- 


Emigration.  27 

smith,  were  to  sail  for  my  intended  settlement  in 
Ceylon. 

I  purchased  farming  implements  of  the  most  im- 
proved descriptions,  seeds  of  all  kinds,  saw-mills,  etc., 
etc.,  and  the  following  stock:  A  half-bred  bull  (Dur- 
ham and  Hereford),  a  well-bred  Durham  cow,  three 
rams  (a  Southdown,  Leicester  and  Cotswold),  and  a 
thorough-bred  entire  horse  by  Charles  XII. ;  also  a 
small  pack  of  foxhounds  and  a  favorite  greyhound 
("Bran"). 

My  brother  had  determined  to  accompany  me  ;  and 
with  emigrants,  s.tock,  machinery,  hounds,  and  our  re- 
spective families,  the  good  ship  "Earl  of  Hardwick," 
belonging  to  Messrs.  Green  &  Co.,  sailed  from  London 
in  September,  1848.  I  had  previously  left  England  by 
the  overland  mail  of  August  to  make  arrangements  at 
Newera  Ellia  for  the  reception  of  the  whole  party. 

I  had  as  much  difficulty  in  making  up  my  mind  to 
the  proper  spot  for  the  settlement  as  Noah's  dove  ex- 
perienced in  its  flight  from  the  ark.  However,  I 
wandered  over  the  neighboring  plains  and  jungles  of 
Newera  Ellia,  and  at  length  I  stuck  my  walking-stick 
into  the  ground  where  the  gentle  undulations  of  the 
country  would  allow  the  use  of  the  plough.  Here, 
then,  was  to  be  the  settlement. 

I  had  chosen  the  spot  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
Newera  Ellia  plain,  on  the  verge  of  the  sudden  descent 
toward  Badulla.  This  position  was  two  miles  and  a 
half  from  Newera  Ellia,  and  was  far  more  agreeable 
and  better  adapted  for  a  settlement,  the  land  being  com- 
paratively level  and  not  shut  in  by  mountains. 

It  was  in  the  dreary  month  of  October,  when  the 
south-west  monsoon  howls  in  all  its  fury  across  the 


28          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

mountains ;  the  mist  boiled  up  from  the  valleys  and 
swept  along  the  surface  of  the  plains,  obscuring  the 
view  of  everything,  except  the  pattering  rain,  which  de- 
scended without  ceasing  day  or  night.  Every  sound 
was  hushed,  save  that  of  the  elements  and  the  distant 
murmuring  roar  of  countless  waterfalls ;  not  a  bird 
chirped,  the  dank  white  lichens  hung  from  the  branches 
of  the  trees,  and  the  wretchedness  of  the  place  was  be- 
yond description. 

I  found  it  almost  impossible  to  persuade  the  natives 
to  work  in  such  weather;  and  it  being  absolutely 
necessary  that  cottages  should  be  built  with  the  greatest 
expedition,  I  was  obliged  to  offer  an  exorbitant  rate 
of  wages. 

In  about  fortnight,  however,  the  wind  and  rain 
showed  flags  of  truce  in  the  shape  of  white  clouds  set 
in  a  blue  sky.  The  gale  ceased,  and  the  skylarks 
warbled  high  in  air,  giving  life  and  encouragement  to 
the  whole  scene.  It  was  like  a  beautiful  cool  mid- 
summer in  England. 

I  had  about  eighty  men  at  work  ;  and  the  constant 
click-clack  of  axes,  the  falling  of  trees,  the  noise  of 
saws  and  hammers  and  the  perpetual  chattering  of 
coolies  gave  a  new  character  to  the  wild  spot  upon 
which  I  had  fixed. 

The  work  proceeded  rapidly ;  neat  white  cottages 
soon  appeared  in  the  forest ;  and  I  expected  to  have 
everything  in  readiness  for  the  emigrants  on  their 
arrival.  I  rented  a  tolerably  good  house  in  Newera 
Ellia,  and  so  far  everything  had  progressed  well. 

The  "  Eai'l  of  Hardwick"  arrived  after  a  prosperous 
voyage,  with  passengers  and  stock  all  in  sound  health  ; 
the  only  casualty  on  board  had  been  to  one  of  the  hounds. 


Accidents  and  Casualties.  29 

In  a  few  days  all  started  from  Colombo  for  Newera 
Ellia.  The  only  trouble  was,  How  to  get  the  cow  up? 
She  was  a  beautiful  beast,  a  thorough-bred  "short 
horn,"  and  she  weighed  about  thirteen  hundredweight. 
She  was  so  fat  that  a  march  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen 
miles  in  a  tropical  climate  was  impossible.  Accord- 
ingly a  van  was  arranged  for  her,  which  the  maker  as- 
sured me  would  carry  an  elephant.  But  no  sooner  had 
the  cow  entered  it  than  the  whole  thing  came  down 
with  a  crash,  and  the  cow  made  her  exit  through  the 
bottom.  She  was  therefore  obliged  to  start  on  foot  in 
company  with  the  bull,  sheep,  horse  and  hounds, 
orders  being  given  that  ten  miles  a  day,  divided  be- 
tween morning  and  evening,  should  be  the  maximum 
march  during  the  journey. 

The  emigrants  started  per  coach,  while  our  party 
drove  up  in  a  new  clarence  which  I  had  brought  from 
England.  I  mention  this,  as  its  untimely  end  will  be 
shortly  seen. 

Four  government  elephant-carts  started  with  ma- 
chinery, farming  implements,  etc.,  etc,,  while  a  troop 
of  bullock-bandies  carried  the  lighter  goods.  I  had  a 
tame  elephant  waiting  at  the  foot  of  the  Newera  Ellia 
Pass  to  assist  in  carrying  up  the  baggage  and  maid- 
servants. 

There  had  been  a  vast  amount  of  trouble  in  making 
all  the  necessary  arrangements,  but  the  start  was  com- 
pleted, and  at  length  we  were  all  fairly  off. 

In  an  enterprise  of  this  kind  many  disappointments 
were  necessarily  to  be  expected,  and  I  had  prepared 
myself  with  the  patience  of  Job  for  anything  that 
might  happen.  It  was  well  that  I  had  done  so,  for  it 
was  soon  put  to  the  test. 
3* 


30          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Having  reached  Rambodde',  at  the  foot  of  the 
Newera  Ellia  Pass,  in  safety,  I  found  that  the  carriage 
was  so  heavy  that  the  horses  were  totally  unable  to  as- 
cend the  pass.  I  therefore  left  it  at  the  rest-house 
while  we  rode  up  the  fifteen  miles  to  Newera  Ellia,  in- 
tending to  send  for  the  empty  vehicle  in  a  few  days. 

The  whole  party  of  emigrants  and  ourselves  reached 
Newera  Ellia  in  safety.  On  the  following  day  I  sent 
down  the  groom  with  a  pair  of  horses  to  bring  up  the 
carriage ;  at  the  same  time  I  sent  down  the  elephant  to 
bring  some  luggage  from  Rambodde. 

Now  this  groom,  u  Henry  Perkes,"  was  one  of  the 
emigrants,  and  he  was  not  exactly  the  steadiest  of  the 
party ;  I  therefore  cautioned  him  to  be  very  careful  in 
driving  up  the  pass,  especially  in  crossing  the  narrow 
bridges  and  turning  the  corners.  He  started  on  his 
mission. 

The  next  day  a  dirty-looking  letter  was  put  in  my 
hand  by  a  native,  which,  being  addressed  to  me,  ran 
something  in  this  style  : 

"  Honor*  Zur 

"  I'm  sorry  to  hinform  you  that  the  carrige  and  osses  has  met  with 
a  haccidint  and  is  tumbled  down  a  preccippice  and  its  a  mussy  as  I 
didn't  go  too.  The  preccippice  isn't  very  deep  bein  not  above  heighty 
feet  or  therabouts — the  hosses  is  got  up  but  is  very  bad — the  carrige 

lies  on  its  back  and  we  can't  stir  it  nohow.     M*. is  very  kind, 

and  has  lent  above  a  hunderd  niggers,  but  they  aint  no  more  use  than 
cats  at  liftin.     Plese  Zur  come  and  see  whats  to  be  done. 

"  Your  Humbel  Serv', 

"  H.  PERKES." 

This  was  pleasant,  certainly^-a  new  carriage  and  a 
pair  of  fine  Australian  horses  smashed  before  they 
reached  Newera  Ellia ! 


String  of  Accidents.  31 

This  was,  however,  the  commencement  of  a  chapter 
of  accidents.  I  went  down  the  pass,  and  there,  sure 
enough,  I  had  a  fine  bird's-eye  view  of  the  carriage 
down  a  precipice  on  the  road  side.  One  horse  was  so 
injured  that  it  was  necessary  to  destroy  him  ;  the  other 
died  a  few  days  after.  Perkes  had  been  intoxicated ; 
and,  while  driving  at  a  full  gallop  round  a  corner,  over 
went  the  carriages  and  horses. 

On  my  return  to  Newera  Ellia,  I  found  a  letter  in- 
forming me  that  the  short-horn  cow  had  halted  at  Am- 
berpusse,  thirty-seven  miles  from  Colombo,  dangerously 
ill.  The  next  morning  another  letter  informed  me  that 
she  was  dead.  This  was  a  sad  loss  after  the  trouble  of 
bringing  so  fine  an  animal  from  England ;  and  I  re- 
gretted her  far  more  than  both  carriage  and  horses 
together,  as  my  ideas  for  breeding  some  thorough-bred 
stock  were  for  the  present  extinguished. 

There  is  nothing  like  one  misfortune  for  breeding 
another ;  and  what  with  the  loss  of  carriage,  horses 
and  cow,  the  string  of  accidents  had  fairly  commenced. 
The  carriage  still  lay  inverted  ;  and  although  a  tolerable 
specimen  of  a  smash,  I  determined  to  pay  a  certain 
honor  to  its  remains  by  not  allowing  it  to  lie  and  rot 
upon  the  ground.  Accordingly,  I  sent  the  blacksmith 
with  a  gang  of  men,  and  Perkes  was  ordered  to  accom- 
pany the  party.  I  also  sent  the  elephant  to  assist  in 
hauling  the  body  of  the  carriage  up  the  precipice. 

Perkes,  having  been  much  more  accustomed  to  riding 
than  walking  during  his  career  as  groom,  was  deter- 
mined to  ride  the  elephant  down  the  pass ;  and  he 
accordingly  mounted,  insisting  at  the  same  time  that 
the  mohout  should  put  the  animal  into  a  trot.  In  vain 
the  man  remonstrated,  and  explained  that  such  a  pace 


32          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  In  Ceylon. 

would  injure  the  elephant  on  a  journey  ;  threats  pre- 
vailed, and  the  beast  was  soon  swinging  along  at  full 
trot,  forced  on  by  the  sharp  driving-hook,  with  the 
delighted  Perkes  striding  across  its  neck,  riding  an  im- 
aginary race. 

On  the  following  day  the  elephant-driver  appeared  at 
the  front  door,  but  'without  the  elephant.  I  irtimediately 
foreboded  some  disaster,  which  was  soon  explained. 
Mr.  Perkes  had  kept  up  the  pace  for  fifteen  miles,  to 
Rambodde,  when,  rinding  that  the  elephant  was  not 
required,  he  took  a  little  refreshment  in  the  shape  of 
brandy  and  water,  and  then,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
"  tooled  the  old  elephant  along  till  he  came  to  a  stand- 
still." 

He  literally  forced  the  poor  beast  up  the  steep  pass 
for  seven  miles,  till  it  fell  down  and  shortly  after  died. 

Mr.  Perkes  was  becoming  an  expensive  man  :  a  most 
sagacious  and  tractable  elephant  was  now  added  to  his 
list  of  victims.;  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  he  was  one  of  the  few  men  in  the  world  who  had 
ridden  an  elephant  to  death. 

That  afternoon,  Mr.  Perkes  was  being  wheeled  about 
the  bazaar  in  a  wheelbarrow,  insensibly  drunk,  by  a 
brother  emigrant,  who  was  also  considerably  elevated. 
Perkes  had  at  some  former  time  lost  an  eye  by  the  kick 
of  a  horse,  and  to  conceal  the  disfigurement  he  wore  a 
black  patch,  which  gave  him  very  much  the  expression 
of  a  bull  terrier  with  a  similar  mark.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  disadvantage  in  appearance,  he  was  perpetu- 
ally making  successful  love  to  the  maid-servants,  and 
he  was  altogether  the  most  incorrigible  scamp  that  I 
ever  met  with,  although  I  must  do  him  the  justice  to 
say  he  was  thoroughly  honest  and  industrious. 


Commencement  of  Cultivation.  33 

I  shortly  experienced  great  trouble  with  the  emi- 
grants ;  they  could  not  agree  with  the  bailiff,  and  openly 
defied  his  authority.  I  was  obliged  to  send  two  of 
them  to  jail  as  an  example  to  the  others.  This  pro- 
duced the  desired  effect,  and  we  shortly  got  regularly 
to  work. 

There  were  now  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  natives 
employed  in  the  tedious  process  of  exterminating  jungle 
and  forest,  not  felling,  but  regularly  digging  out  every 
tree  and  root,  then  piling  and  burning  the  mass,  and 
leveling  the  cleared  land  in  a  state  to  receive  the 
plough.  This  was  very  expensive  work,  amounting  to 
about  thirty  pounds  per  acre.  The  root  of  a  large  tree 
would  frequently  occupy  three  men  a  couple  of  days  in 
its  extraction,  which,  at  the  rate  of  wages,  at  one  shil- 
ling per  diem,  was  very  costly.  The  land  thus  cleared 
was  a  light  sandy  loam,  about  eighteen  inches  in  depth, 
with  a  gravel  subsoil,  and  was  considered  to  be  far 
superior  to  the  patina  (or  natural  grass-land)  soil,  which 
was,  in  appearance,  black  loam  on  the  higher  ground, 
and  of  a  peaty  nature  in  the  swamps. 

The  bailiff  (Mr.  Fowler)  was  of' opinion  that  the 
patina  soil  was  the  best ;  therefore,  while  the  large 
native  force  was  engaged  in  sweeping  the  forest  from 
the'surface,  operations  were  commenced  according  to 
agricultural  rules  upon  the  patinas. 

A  tract  of  land  known  as  the  "  Moon  Plains,"  com- 
prising about  two  hundred  acres,  was  immediately 
commenced  upon.  As  some  persons  considered  the 
settlement  at  Newera  Ellia  the  idea  of  a  lunatic,  the 
"  Moon  Plain"  was  an  appropriate  spot  for  the  experi- 
ment. A  tolerably  level  field  of  twenty  acres  was 
fenced  in,  and  the  work  begun  by  firing  the  patina  and 

C 


34          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

burning  off  all  the  grass.  Then  came  three  teams,  as 
follows : 

Lord  Ducie's  patent  cultivator,  drawn  by  an  ele- 
phant ;  a  skim,  drawn  by  another  elephant,  and  a  long 
wood  plough,  drawn  by  eight  bullocks. 

The  field  being  divided  into  three  sections,  was  thus 
quickly  pared  of  the  turf,  the  patent  cultivator  working 
admirably,  and  easily  drawn  by  the  elephant. 

The  weather  being  very  dry  and  favorable  for  the 
work,  the  turf  was  soon  ready  for  burning ;  and  being 
piled  in  long  rows,  much  trouble  was  saved  in  subse- 
quently spreading  the  ashes.  This  being  completed, 
we  had  six  teams  at  work,  two  horse,  two  bullock,  and 
two  elephant;  and  the  ploughing  was  soon  finished. 
The  whole  piece  was  then  sown  with  oats. 

It  was  an  interesting  sight  to  see  the  rough  plain 
yielding  to  the  power  of  agricultural  implements,  es- 
pecially as  some  of  these  implements  were  drawn  by 
animals  not  generally  seen  in  plough  harness  at  home. 

The  "  cultivator,"  which  was  sufficiently  large  to 
anchor  any  twenty  of  the  small  native  bullocks,  looked 
a  mere  nothing  behind  the  splendid  elephant  who 
worked  it,  and  it  cut  through  the  wiry  roots  of  the  rank 
turf  as  a  knife  peels  an  apple.  It  was  amusing  to  see 
this  same  elephant  doing  the  work  of  three  separate 
teams  when  the  seed  was  in  the  ground.  She  first 
drew  a  pair  of  heavy  harrows ;  attached  to  these  and 
following  behind  were  a  pair  of  light  harrows,  and 
behind  these  came  a  roller.  Thus  the  land  had  its 
first  and  second  harrowing  at  the  same  time  with  the 
rolling. 

This  elephant  was  particularly  sagacious ;  and  het 
farming  work  being  completed,  she  was  employed  in 


Sagacity  of  the  Elephant.  35 

making  a  dam  across  a  stream.  She  was  a  very  large 
animal,  and  it  was  beautiful  to  witness  her  wonderful 
sagacity  in  carrying  and  arranging  the  heavy  timber 
required.  The  rough  trunks  of  trees  from  the  lately 
felled  forest  were  lying  within  fifty  yards  of  the  spot, 
and  the  trunks  required  for  the  dam  were  about  fifteen 
feet  long  and  fourteen  to  eighteen  inches  in  diameter. 
These  she  carried  in  her  mouth,  shifting  her  hold 
along  the  log  before  she  raised  it  until  she  had  obtained 
the  exact  balance  ;  then,  steadying  it  with  her  trunk, 
she  carried  every  log  to  the  spot,  and  laid  them  across 
the  stream  in  parallel  rows.  These  she  herself  ar- 
ranged, under  the  direction  of  her  driver,  with  the 
reason  apparently  of  a  human  being. 

The  most  extraordinary  part  of  her  performance  was 
the  arranging  of  two  immense  logs  of  red  keenar  (one 
of  the  heaviest  woods).  These  were  about  eighteen 
feet  long  and  two  feet  in  diameter,  and  they  were  in- 
tended to  lie  on  either  bank  of  the  stream,  parallel  to 
the  brook  and  close  to  the  edge.  These  she  placed 
with  the  greatest  care  in  their  exact  positions,  unassisted 
by  any  one.*  She  rolled  them  gently  over  with  her 
head,  then  with  one  foot,  and  keeping  her  trunk  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  log,  she  checked  its  way  whenever 
its  own  momentum  would  have  carried  it  into  the 
stream.  Although  I  thought  the  work  admirably  done, 
she  did  not  seem  quite  satisfied,  and  she  presently  got 
into  the  stream,  and  gave  one  end  of  the  log  an  extra 
push  with  her  head,  which  completed  her  task,  the  two 
trees  lying  exactly  parallel  to  each  other,  close  to  the 
edge  of  either  bank. 

Tame  elephants  are  constantly  employed  in  building 
*  Directed  of  course  by  her  driver. 


36          Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

stone  bridges,  when  the  stones  required  for  the  abut- 
ments are  too  heavy  to  be  managed  by  crowbars. 

Many  were  the  difficulties  to  contend  against  when 
the  first  attempts  were  made  in  agriculture  at  Newera 
Ellia.  No  sooner  were  the  oats  a  few  inches  above 
ground  than  they  were  subjected  to  the  nocturnal  visits 
of  elk  and  hogs  in  such  numbers  that  they  were  almost 
wholly  destroyed. 

A  crop  of  potatoes  of  about  three  acres  on  the  newly- 
cleared  forest  land  was  totally  devoured  by  grubs.  The 
bull  and  stock  were  nearly  starved  on  the  miserable 
pasturage  of  the  country,  and  no  sooner  had  the  clover 
sprung  up  in  the  new  clearings  than  the  Southdown 
ram  got  hoven  upon  it  and  died.  The  two  remaining 
rams,  not  having  been  accustomed  to  much  high  living 
since  their  arrival  at  Newera  Ellia,  got  pugnacious 
upon  the  clover,  and  in  a  pitched  battle  the  Leicester 
ram  killed  the  Cotswold,  and  remained  solus.  An 
epidemic  appeared  among  the  cattle,  and  twenty-six 
fine  bullocks  died  within  a  few  days ;  five  Australian 
horses  died  during  the  first  year,  and  everything  seemed 
to  be  going  into  the  next  world  as  fast  as  possible. 

Having  made  up  my  mind  to  all  manner  of  disap- 
pointments, these  casualties  did  not  make  much  impres- 
sion on  me,  and  the  loss  of  a  few  crops  at  the  outset 
was  to  be  expected  ;  but  at  length  a  deplorable  and  un- 
expected event  occurred. 

The  bailiff's  family  consisted  of  a  wife  and  daughter ; 
the  former  was  the  perfection  of  a  respectable  farmer's 
wife,  whose  gentle  manners  and  amiable  disposition 
had  gained  her  many  friends  ;  the  daughter  was  a  very 
pretty  girl  of  nineteen. 

For  some  time  Mrs.  Fowler  had  been  suffering  from 


Natural  Pasturage.  37 

an  illness  of  long  standing,  and  I  was  suddenly  called 
to  join  in  the  mournful  procession  to  her  grave.  This 
was  indeed  a  loss  which  I  deeply  deplored. 

At  length  death  left  the  little  settlement,  and  a  ray 
of  sunshine  shone  through  the  gloom  which  would 
have  made  many  despond.  Fortune  smiled  upon  every- 
thing. Many  acres  of  forest  were  cleared,  and  the 
crops  succeeded  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  I  had, 
however,  made  the  discovery  that  without  manure 
nothing  would  thrive.  This  had  been  a  great  disap- 
pointment, as  much  difficulty  lay  in  procuring  the  ne- 
cessary item. 

Had  the  natural  pasturage  been  good,  it  would  soon 
have  been  an  easy  matter  to  procure  any  amount  of 
manure  by  a  corresponding  number  of  cattle  ;  but,  as  it 
happened,  the  natural  pasturage  was  so  bad  that  no 
beast  could  thrive  upon  it.  Thus  everything,  even 
grass-land,  had  to  be  manured ;  and,  fortunately,  a 
cargo  of  guano  having  arrived  in  the  island,  we  were 
enabled  to  lay  down  some  good  clover  and  seeds. 

The  original  idea  of  cultivation,  driving  the  forests 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Newera  Ellia,  was  therefore 
dispelled.  Every  acre  of  land  must  be  manured,  and 
upon  a  large  scale  at  Newera  Ellia  that  is  impossible. 
With  manure  everything  will  thrive  to  perfection  with 
the  exception  of  wheat.  There  is  neither  lime  nor 
magnesia  in  the  soil.  An  abundance  of  silica  throws 
a  good  crop  of  straw,  but  the  grain  is  wanting :  Indian 
corn  will  not  form  grain  from  the  same  cause.  On  the 
other  hand,  peas,  beans,  turnips,  carrots,  cabbages,  etc., 
produce  crops  as  heavy  as  those  of  England.  Potatoes, 
being  the  staple  article  of  production,  are  principally 
cultivated,  as  the  price  of  twenty  pounds  per  ton  yields 
4 


38          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

a  large  profit.  These,  however,  do  not  produce  larger 
crops  than  from  four  to  six  tons  per  acre  when  heavily 
manured  ;  but  as  the  crop  is  fit  to  dig  in  three  months 
from  the  day  of  planting,  money  is  quickly  made. 

There  are  many  small  farmers,  or  rather  gardeners, 
at  Newera  Ellia  who  have  succeeded  uncommonly 
well.  One  of  the  emigrants  who  left  my  service  re- 
turned to  England  in  three  years  with  three  hundred 
pounds  ;  and  all  the  industrious  people  succeed.  I  am 
now  without  one  man  whom  I  brought  out.  The 
bailiff  farms  a  little  land  of  his  own,  and  his  pretty 
daughter  is  married  ;  the  others  are  scattered  here  and 
there,  but  I  believe  all  are  doing  well,  especially  the 
blacksmith,  upon  whose  anvil  Fortune  has  smiled  most 
kindly. 

By  the  bye,  that  same  blacksmith  has  the  right  stamp 
of  a  "better  half"  for  an  emigrant's  wife.  According 
to  his  own  description  she  is  a  "good  knock-about 
kind  of  a  wife."  I  recollect  seeing  her,  during  a  press 
of  work,  rendering  assistance  to  her  Vulcan  in  a  man- 
ner worthy  of  a  Cyclop's  spouse.  She  was  wielding- 
an  eighteen-pound  sledgehammer,  sending  the  sparks 
flying  at  every  blow  upon  the  hot  iron,  and  making  the 
anvil  ring  again,  while  her  husband  turned  the  metal 
at  every  stroke,  as  if  attending  on  Nasmyth's  patent 
steam  hammer. 

It  has  been  a  great  satisfaction  to  me  that  all  the 
people  whom  I  brought  out  are  doing  well ;  even 
Henry  Perkes,  of  elephant-jockeying  notoriety,  is,  I  be- 
lieve, prospering  as  a  groom  in  Madras. 


CHAPTER    III. 

TASK  COMPLETED — THE  MOUNTAIN-TOP — CHANGE  IN  THE  PACK 

OF  NATURE — ORIGINAL  IMPORTANCE  OF  NEWERA  ELLIA 

"THE  PATH  OF  A  THOUSAND  PRINCES" — VESTIGES  OF 
FORMER  POPULATION — MOUNTAINS— THE  HIGHLANDS  OF 
OUVA — ANCIENT  METHODS  OF  IRRIGATION — REMAfNS  OF 
AQJJEDUCTS — THE  VALE  OF  RUBIES — ANCIENT  OPHIR — • 
DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD — MINERAL  RESOURCES — NATIVE 
BLACKSMITHS. 

IN  a  climate  like  that  of  Newera  Ellia,  even  twelve 
months  make  a  great  change  in  the  appearance  of 
a  new  settlement ;  plants  and  shrubs  spring  up  with 
wonderful  rapidity,  and  a  garden  of  one  year's  growth, 
without  attendance,  would  be  a  wilderness. 

A  few  years  necessarily  made  a  vast  change  in 
everything.  All  kinds  of  experiments  had  been  made, 
and  those  which  succeeded  were  persevered  in.  I  dis- 
covered that  excellent  beer  might  be  made  at  this 
elevation  (six  thousand  two  hundred  feet),  and  I  ac- 
cordingly established  a  small  brewery. 

The  solitary  Leicester  ram  had  propagated  a  numer- 
ous family,  and  a  flock  of  fat  ewes,  with  their  lambs, 
throve  to  perfection.  Many  handsome  young  heifers 
looked  very  like  the  emigrant  bull  in  the  face,  and 
claimed  their  parentage.  The  fields  were  green  ;  the 
axe  no  longer  sounded  in  the  forests ;  a  good  house 

39 


40          Eight  Tears1   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

stood  in  tne  centre  of  cultivation  ;  a  road  of  two  miles 
in  length  cut  through  the  estate,  and  the  whole  place 
looked  like  an  adopted  "home."  All  the  trials  and 
disappointments  of  the  beginning  were  passed  away, 
and  the  real  was  a  picture  which  I  had  ideally  con- 
templated years  before.  The  task  was  finished. 

In  the  interim,  public  improvements  had  not  been 
neglected  ;  an  extremely  pretty  church  had  been  erected, 
and  a  public  reading-room  established  ;  but,  with  the 
exception  of  one  good  house  which  had  been  built,  pri- 
vate enterprise  had  lain  dormant.  As  usual,  from  Jan- 
uary to  May,  Newera  Ellia  was  overcrowded  with 
visitors,  and  nearly  empty  during  the  other  months  of 
the  year. 

All  Ceylon  people  dread  the  wet  season  at  Newera 
Ellia,  which  continues  from  June  to  December. 

I  myself  prefer  it  to  what  is  termed  the  dry  season, 
at  which  time  the  country  is  burnt  up  by  drought. 
There  is  never  more  rain  at  Newera  Ellia  than  vegeta- 
tion requires,  and  not  one-fourth  the  quantity  falls  at 
this  elevation,  compared  to  that  of  the  low  country.  It 
may  be  more  continuous,  but  it  is  of  a  lighter  character, 
and  more  akin  to  "  Scotch  mist."  The  clear  days 
during  the  wet  season  are  far  more  lovely  than  the  con- 
stant glare  of  the  summer  months,  and  the  rays  of  the 
sun  are  not  so  powerful. 

There  cannot  be  a  more  beautiful  sight  than  the 
view  of  sunrise  from  the  summit  of  Pedrotallagalla,  the 
highest  mountain  in  Ceylon,  which,  rising  to  the  height 
of  8300  feet,  looks  down  upon  Newera  Ellia,  some  two 
thousand  feet  below  upon  one  side,  and  upon  the  inter- 
,  minable  depths  of  countless  ravines  and  valleys  at  its 
base. 


The  Mountain-Top.  41 

There  is  a  feeling  approaching  the  sublime  when  a 
solitary  man  thus  stands  upon  the  highest  point  of  earth, 
before  the  dawn  of  day,  and  waits  the  first  rising  of  the 
sun.  Nothing  above  him  but  the  dusky  arch  of  heaven. 
Nothing  on  his  level  but  empty  space, — all  beneath, 
deep  beneath  his  feet.  From  childhood  he  has  looked 
to  heaven  as  the  dwelling  of  the  Almighty,  and  he  now 
stands  upon  that  lofty  summit  in  the  silence  of  utter 
solitude  ;  his  hand,  as  he  raises  it  above  his  head,  the 
highest  mark  upon  the  sea-girt  land  ;  his  form  above 
all  mortals  upon  this  land,  the  nearest  to  his  God. 
Words,  till  now  unthought  of,  tingle  in  his  ears  :  "He 
went  up  into  a  mountain  apart  to  pray."  He  feels  the 
spirit  which  prompted  the  choice  of  such  a  lonely  spot, 
and  he  stands  instinctively  uncovered,  as  the  first  ray 
of  light  spreads  like  a  thread  of  fire  across  the  sky. 

And  now  the  distant  hill-tops,  far  below,  struggle 
through  the  snowy  sheet  of  mist,  like  islands  in  a  fairy 
sea  ;  and  far,  how  far  his  eye  can  scan,  where  the  faint 
line  upon  the  horizon  marks  the  ocean !  Mountain 
and  valley,  hill  and  plain,  with  boundless  forest,  stretch 
beneath  his  feet,  far  as  his  sight  can  gaze,  and  the  scene, 
so  solemnly  beautiful,  gradually  wakens  to  his  senses  ; 
the  birds  begin  to  chirp ;  the  dew-drops  fall  heavily 
from  the  trees,  as  the  light  breeze  stirs  from  an  apparent 
sleep  :  a  golden  tint  spreads  over  the  sea  of  mist  below  ; 
the  rays  dart  lightning-like  upon  the  eastern  sky  ;  the 
mighty  orb  rises  in  all  the  fullness  of  his  majesty,  recall- 
ing the  words  of  Omnipotence  :  "  Let  there  be  light !" 

The  sun  is  risen  !  the  misty  sea  below  mounts  like  a 

snowy  wreath  around   the  hill-tops,  and   then,  like  a 

passing  thought,  it  vanishes.     A  glassy  clearness  of  the 

atmosphere    reveals   the    magnificent  view  of  Nature, 

4* 


42          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

fresh  from  her  sleep ;  every  dewy  leaf  gilded  by  the 
morning  sun,  every  rock  glistening  with  moisture  in  his 
bright  rays,  mountain  and  valley,  wood  and  plain,  alike 
rejoicing  in  his  beams. 

And  now,  the  sun  being  risen,  we  gaze  from  our 
lofty  post  upon  Newera  Ellia,  lying  at  our  feet.  We 
trace  the  river  winding  its  silvery  course  through  the 
plain,  and  for  many  miles  the  alternate  plains  and 
forests  joining  in  succession. 

How  changed  are  some  features  of  the  landscape 
within  the  few  past  years,  and  how  wonderful  the 
alteration  made  by  man  on  the  face  of  Nature  !  Com- 
paratively but  a  few  years  ago,  Newera  Ellia  was  un- 
discovered— a  secluded  plain  among  the  mountain- 
tops,  tenanted  by  the  elk  and  boar.  The  wind  swept 
over  it,  and  the  mists  hung  around  the  mountains,  and 
the  bright  summer  with  its  spotless  sky  succeeded,  but 
still  it  was  unknown  and  unseen  except  by  the  native 
bee-hunter  in  his  rambles  for  wild  honey.  How 
changed !  The  road  encircles  the  plain,  and  carts  are 
busy  in  removing  the  produce  of  the  land.  Here, 
where  wild  forests  stood,  are  gardens  teeming  with 
English  flowers ;  rosy-faced  children  and  ruddy  coun- 
trymen are  about  the  cottage  doors  ;  equestrians  of  both 
sexes  are  galloping  round  the  plain,  and  the  cry  of  the 
hounds  is  ringing  on  the  mountain-side. 

How  changed  !  There  is  an  old  tree  standing  upon 
a  hill,  whose  gnarled  trunk  has  been  twisted  by  the 
winter's  wind  for  many  an  age,  and  so  screwed  is  its 
old  stem  that  the  axe  has  spared  it,  out  of  pity,  when 
its  companions  were  all  swept  away  and  the  forest 
felled.  And  many  a  tale  that  old  tree  could  tell  of 
winter's  blasts  and  broken  boughs,  and  storms  which 


Change  in  the  Face  of  Nature.  43 

howled  above  its  head,  when  all  was  wilderness  around. 
The  eagle  has  roosted  in  its  top,  the  monkeys  have 
gamboled  in  its  branches,  and  the  elephants  have  rub- 
bed their  tough  flanks  against  its  stem  in  times  gone 
by ;  but  it  now  throws  a  shadow  upon  a  Christian's 
grave,  and  the  churchyard  lies  beneath  its  shade. 
The  church-bell  sounds  where  the  elephant  trumpeted 
of  yore.  The  sunbeam  has  penetrated  where  the  forest 
threw  its  dreary  shade,  and  a  ray  of  light  has  shone 
through  the  moral  darkness  of  the  spot. 

The  completion  of  the  church  is  the  grand  improve- 
ment in  Newera  Ellia. 

Although  Newera  Ellia  was  in  the  wild  state  de- 
scribed when  first  discovered  by  Europeans,  it  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  its  existence  was  unknown  to  the  Cin- 
galese. The  name  itself  proves  its  former  importance 
to  the  kings  of  Kandy,  as  Newera  Ellia  signifies  "  Royal 
Plains."  Kandy  is  termed  by  the  Cingalese  "  Newera," 
as  it  was  the  capital  of  Ceylon  and  the  residence  of 
the  king. 

However  wild  the  country  may  be,  and  in  many 
portions  unvisited  by  Europeans,  still  every  high  moun- 
tain and  every  little  plain  in  this  wilderness  of  forest  is 
not  only  known  to  the  natives  of  the  adjacent  low  country, 
but  has  its  separate  designation.  There  is  no  feature 
of  the  country  without  its  name,  although  the  immense 
tracts  of  mountain  are  totally  uninhabited,  and  the 
nearest  villages  are  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  distant, 
between  two  and  three  thousand  feet  below. 

There  are  native  paths  from  village  to  village  across 
the  mountains,  which,  although  in  appearance  no  nure 
than  deer-runs,  have  existed  for  many  centuries,  and  are 
used  by  the  natives  even  to  this  day.  The  great 


44          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

of  forest-covered  Newera  Ellia  mountains  divides  the 
two  districts  of  Ouva  and  Kotmalie,  and  these  native 
paths  have  been  formed  to  connect  the  two  by  an  ardu- 
ous accent  upon  either  side,  and  a  comparatively  level 
cut  across  the  shoulders  of  the  mountains,  through 
alternate  plain  and  forest,  for  some  twenty-five  miles. 
These  paths  would  never  be  known  to  Europeans  were 
it  not  for  the  distant  runs  of  the  hounds,  in  following 
which,  after  some  hours  of  fatiguing  jungle-work,  I 
have  come  upon  a  path.  The  notches  on  the  tree- 
stems  have  proved  its  artificial  character,  and  by  fol- 
lowing its  course  I  have  learnt  the  country. 

There  is  not  a  path,  stream,  hill,  or  plain,  within 
many  miles  of  Newera  Ellia,  that  I  do  not  know  inti- 
mately, although,  when  the  character  of  the  country  is 
scanned  by  a  stranger  from  some  mountain-top,  the 
very  act  of  traversing  it  appears  impossible.  This 
knowledge  has  been  gained  by  years  of  unceasing 
hunting,  and  by  perseveringly  following  up  the  hounds 
wherever  they  have  gone.  From  sunrise  till  nightfall  I 
have  often  ploughed  along  through  alternate  jungles 
and  plains,  listening  eagerly  for  the  cry  of  the  hounds, 
and  at  length  discovering  portions  of  the  country  which 
I  had  never  known  to  exist. 

There  is  a  great  pleasure  in  thus  working  out  the 
features  of  a  wild  country,  especially  in  an  island  like 
Ceylon,  which,  in  every  portion,  exhibits  traces  of 
former  prosperity  and  immense  population.  Even  these 
uninhabited  and  chilly  regions,  up_  to  an  elevation  of 
seven  thousand  feet,  are  not  blank  pages  in  the  book  of 
Nature,  but  the  hand  of  man  is  so  distinctly  traced 
that  the  keen  observer  can  read  with  tolerable  certainty 
the  existence  of  a  nation  long  since  passed  away. 


Original  Importance  of  Netvera  Ellia.         45 

As  I  before  mentioned,  I  pitched  my  settlement  on 
the  verge  of  the  highland,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  Newera  Ellia  plain,  where  the  high  road  com- 
mences a  sudden  descent  toward  Badulla,  thirty-three 
miles  distant.  This  spot,  forming  a  shallow  gap,  was 
the  ancient  native  entrance  to  Newera  Ellia  from  that 
side,  and  the  Cingalese  designation  for  the  locality  is 
interpreted  "  the  Path  of  a  Thousand  Princes."  This 
name  assists  in  the  proof  that  Newera  Ellia  was  for- 
merly of  some'  great  importance.  A  far  more  enticing 
name  gives  an  interest  to  the  first  swampy  portion  of 
the  plain,  some  three  hundred  paces  beyond,  viz.,  "  the 
Valley  of  Rubies." 

Now,  having  plainly  discovered  that  Newera  Ellia 
was  of  some  great  importance  to  the  natives,  let  us 
consider  in  what  that  value  consisted.  There  are  no 
buildings  remaining,  no  ruins,  as  in  other  parts  of 
Ceylon,  but  a  liquid  mine  of  wealth  poured  from  these 
lofty  regions.  The  importance  of  Newera  Ellia  lay 
first  in  its  supply  of  water,  and,  secondly,  in  its  gems. 

In  all  tropical  countries  the  first  principle  of  cultiva- 
tion is  the  supply  of  water,  without  which  the  land 
would  remain  barren.  In  a  rice-growing  country  like 
Ceylon,  the  periodical  rains  are  insufficient,  and  the 
whole  system  of  native  agriculture  depends  upon  irri- 
gation. Accordingly,  the  mountains  being  the  reser- 
voirs from  which  the  rivers  spring,  become  of  vital  im- 
portance to  the  country. 

The  principal  mountains  in  Ceylon  are  Pedrotalla- 
galla,  eight  thousand  two  hundred  and  eighty  feet ; 
Kirigallapotta,  seven  thousand  nine  hundred ;  Tota- 
pella,  eight  thousand  feet;  and  Adam's  Peak,  seven 
thousand  seven  hundred  ;  but  although  their  altitude  is 


46          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

so  considerable,  they  do  not  give  the  idea  of  grandeur 
which  such  an  altitude  would  convey.  They  do  not 
rise  abruptly  from  a  level  base,  but  they  are  merely  the 
loftiest  of  a  thousand  peaks  towering  from  the  highlands 
of  Ceylon. 

The  greater  portion  of  the  highland  district  may 
therefore  be  compared  to  one  vast  mountain  ;  hill  piled 
upon  hill,  and  peak  rising  over  peak  ;  ravines  of  im- 
mense depth,  forming  innumerable  conduits  for  the 
mountain  torrents.  Then,  at  the  elevation  of  Newera 
Ellia  the  heavings  of  the  land  appear  to  have  rested, 
and  gentle  undulations,  diversified  by  plains  and  forests, 
extend  for  some  thirty  miles.  From  these  compara- 
tively level  tracts  and  swampy  plains  the  rivers  of 
Ceylon  derive  their  source  and  the  three  loftiest  peaks 
take  their  base  ;  Pedrotallagalla  rising  from  the  Newera 
Ellia  Plain,  "  Totapella"  and  Kirigallapotta  from  the 
Horton  Plains. 

The  whole  of  the  highland  district  is  thus  composed 
of  a  succession  of  ledges  of  great  extent  at  various  ele- 
vations, commencing  with  the  highest,  the  Horton 
Plains,  seven  thousand  feet  above  the  sea. 

Seven  hundred  feet  below  the  Horton  Plain,  the 
Totapella  Plains  and  undulating  forests  continue  at 
this  elevation  as  far  as  Newera  Ellia  for  about  twenty 
miles,  thus  forming  the  second  ledge. 

Six  miles  to  the  west  of  Newera  Ellia,  at  a  lower 
elevation  of  about  nine  hundred  feet,  the  district  of 
Dimboola  commences,  and  extends  at  this  elevation 
over  a  vast  tract  of  forest-covered  country,  stretching 
still  farther  to  the  west,  and  containing  a  small  pro- 
portion of  plain. 

At   about   the    same   elevation,    nine   miles   on   the 


The  Highlands  of  Ouva.  47 

north  of  Newera  Ellia,  we  descend  to  the  Elephant 
Plains  ;  a  beautiful  tract  of  fine  grass  country,  but  of 
small  extent.  This  tract  and  that  of  Dimboola  form 
the  third  ledge. 

Nine  miles  to  the  east  of  Newera  Ellia,  at  a  lower 
elevation  of  one  thousand  five  hundred  feet,  stretches 
the  Ouva  country,  forming  the  fourth  ledge. 

The  features  of  this  country  are  totally  distinct  from 
any  other  portion  of  Ceylon.  A  magnificent  view  ex- 
tends as  far  as  the  horizon,  of  undulating  open  grass- 
land, diversified  by  the  rich  crops  of  paddy  which  are 
grown  in  each  of  the  innumerable  small  valleys  formed 
by  the  undulations  of  the  ground.  Not  a  tree  is  to  be 
seen  except  the  low  brushwood  which  is  scantily  dis- 
tributed upon  its  surface.  We  emerge  suddenly  from 
the  forest-covered  mountains  of  Newera  Ellia,  and, 
from  a  lofty  point  on  the  high  road  to  Badulla,  we  look 
down  upon  the  splendid  panorama  stretched  like  a 
waving  sea  beneath  our  feet  The  road  upon  which 
we  stand  is  scarped  out  of  the  mountain's  side.  The 
forest  has  ceased,  dying  off  gradually  into  isolated 
patches  and  long  ribbon-like  strips  on  the  sides  of  the 
mountain,  upon  which  rich  grass  is  growing,  in  vivid 
contrast  to  the  rank  and  coarse  herbage  of  Newera 
Ellia,  distant  only  five  miles  from  the  point  upon  which 
we  stand. 

Descending  until  we  reach  Wilson's  Plain,  nine 
miles  from  Newera  Ellia,  we  arrive  in  the  district  of 
Ouva,  as  much  like  the  Sussex  Downs  as  any  place  to 
which  it  can  be  compared. 

This  district  comprises  about  six  hundred  square 
miles,  ami  forms  the  fourth  and  last  ledge  of  the  high- 
lands of  Ceylon.  Passes  from  the  mountains  which 


48          Eight  Tears1  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

form  the  wall-like  boundaries  of  this  table-land  descend 
to  the  low.  country  in  various  directions. 

The  whole  of  the  Ouva  district  upon  the  one  side, 
and  of  the  Kotmalee  district  on  the  other  side,  of  the 
Newera  Ellia  range  of  mountains,  are,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Kandy  and 
Colombo,  the  most  populous  districts  of  Ceylon. 

This  is  entirely  owing  to  the  never-failing  supply  of 
water  obtained  from  the  mountains ;  and  upon  this 
supply  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  country  depend. 

The  ancient  history  of  Ceylon  is  involved  in  much 
obscurity,  but  nevertheless  we  have  sufficient  data  in 
the  existing  traces  of  its  former  population  to  form  our 
opinions  of  the  position  and  power  which  Ceylon  oc- 
cupied in  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  when  England  was 
in  a  state  of  barbarism.  The  wonderful  remains  of 
ancient  cities,  tanks  and  water-courses  throughout  the 
island  all  prove  that  the  now  desolate  regions  were 
tenanted  by  a  multitude — not  of  savages,  but  of  a  race 
long  since  passed  away,  full  of  industry  and  intelli- 
gence. 

Among  the  existing  traces  of  former  population  few 
are  more  interesting  than  those  in  the  vicinity  of 
Newera  Ellia. 

Judging  from  the  present  supply  of  water  required 
for  the  cultivation  of  a  district  containing  a  certain  pop- 
ulation, we  can  arrive  at  a  tolerably  correct  idea  of  the 
former  population  by  comparing  the  present  supply  of 
water  with  that  formerly  required. 

Although  the  district  of  Ouva  is  at  present  well  pop- 
ulated, and  every  hollow  is  taken  advantage  of  for  the 
cultivation  of  paddy,  still  the  demand  for  water  in  pro- 
portion to  the  supply  is  comparatively  small. 


Ancient  Methods  of  Irrigation.  49 

The  system  of  irrigation  has  necessarily  involved 
immense  labor.  For  many  miles  the  water  is  con- 
ducted from  the  mountains  through  dense  forests,  across 
ravines,  round  the  steep  sides  of  opposing  hills,  now 
leaping  into  a  lower  valley  into  a  reservoir,  from  which 
it  is  again  led  through  this  arduous  country  until  it  at 
length  reaches  the  land  which  it  is  destined  to  render 
fertile. 

There  has  been  a  degree  of  engineering  skill  dis- 
played in  forming  aqueducts  through  such  formidable 
obstacles  ;  the  hills  are  lined  out  in  every  direction  with 
these  proofs  of  industry,  and  their  winding  course  can 
be  traced  round  the  grassy  sides  of  the  steep  moun- 
tains, while  the  paddy-fields  are  seen  miles  away  in  the 
valleys  of  Ouva  stretched  far  beneath. 

At  least  eight  out  of  ten  of  these  water-courses  are 
dry,  and  the  masonry  required  in  the  sudden  angles 
of  ravines,  has,  in  most  cases,  fallen  to  decay.  Even 
those  water-courses  still  in  existence  are  of  the  second 
class ;  small  streams  have  been  conducted  from  their 
original  course,  and  these  serve  for  the  supply  of  the 
present  population. 

From  the  remains  of  deserted  water-courses  of  the 
first  class,  it  is  evident  that  more  than  fifty  times  the 
volume  of  water  was  then  required  that  is  in  use  at 
present,  and  in  the  same  ratio  must  have  been  the 
amount  of  population. 

In  those  days  rivers  were  diverted  from  their  natural 
channels ;  opposing  hills  were  cut  through,  and  the 
waters  thus  were  led  into  another  valley  to  join  a  stream 
flowing  in  its  natural  bed,  whose  course,  eventually  ob- 
structed by  a  dam,  poured  its  accumulated  waters  into 
canals  which  branched  to  various  localities.  Not  a 
6  D 


50          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

river  in  those  times  flowed  in  vain.  The  hill-sides 
were  terraced  out  in  beautiful  cultivation,  which  are 
now  waving  with  wild  vegetation  and  rank  lemon 
grass.  The  remaining  traces  of  stone  walls  point  out 
the  ancient  boundaries  far  above  the  secluded  valleys 
now  in  cultivation. 

The  nation  has  vanished,  and  with  it  the  industry 
and  perseverance  of  the  era. 

We  now  arrive  at  the  cause  of  the  former  importance 
of  Newera  Ellia,  or  the  "  Royal  Plains." 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  very  existence  of  the  pop- 
ulation depended  upon  the  supply  of  water,  and  that 
supply  was  obtained  from  the  neighborhood  of  Newera 
Ellia.  Therefore,  a  king  in  possession  of  Newera  Ellia 
had  the  most  complete  command  over  his  subjects ;  he 
could  either  give  or  withhold  the  supply  of  water  at 
his  pleasure,  by  allowing  its  free  exit  or  by  altering  its 
course. 

Thus,  during  rebellion,  he  could  starve  his  people 
into  submission,  or  lay  waste  the  land  in  time  of  for- 
eign invasion.  I  have  seen  in  an  impregnable  position 
the  traces  of  an  ancient  fort,  evidently  erected  to  de- 
fend the  pass  to  the  main  water-course  from  the  low 
country. 

This  gives  us  a  faint  clue  to  the  probable  cause  of 
the  disappearance  of  the  nation. 

In  time  of  war  or  intestine  commotion,  the  water 
may  have  been  cut  off  from  the  low  country,  and  the 
exterminating  effects  of  famine  may  have  laid  the 
whole  land  desolate. 

It  is,  therefore,  no  longer  a  matter  of  astonishment 
that  the  present  plain  of  Newera  Ellia  should  have 
received  its  appellation  of  the  "Royal  Plain."  IP 


The   Vale  of  Rubies.  51 

those  days  there  was  no  very  secure  tenure  to  the 
throne,  and  by  force  alone  could  a  king  retain  it.  The 
more  bloodthirsty  and  barbarous  the  tyrant,  the  more 
was  he  dreaded  by  the  awe-stricken  and  trembling  pop- 
ulation. The  power  of  such  a  weapon  of  annihilation 
as  the  command  of  the  waters  may  be  easily  conceived, 
as  it  invested  a  king  with  almost  divine  authority  in 
the  eyes  of  his  subjects. 

Now  there  js  little  doubt  that  the  existence  of  pre- 
cious gems  at  Newera  Ellia  may  have  been  accidentally 
discovered  in  digging  the  numerous  water-courses  in 
the  vicinity ;  there  is,  however,  no  doubt  that  at  some 
former  period  the  east  end  of  the  plain,  called  the 
"  Vale  of  Rubies,"  constituted  the  royal  "  diggings." 
That  the  king  of  Kandy  did  not  reside  at  Newera  Ellia 
there  is  little  wonder,  as  a  monarch  delighting  in  a 
temperature  of  85°  Fahr.  would  have  regarded  the 
climate  of  a  mean  temperature  of  60°  Fahr.  as  we 
should  that  of  Nova  Zembla. 

We  may  take  it  for  granted,  therefore,  that  when  the 
king  came  to  Newera  Ellia  his  visit  had  some  object, 
and  we  presume  that  he  came  to  look  at  the  condition 
of  his  water-courses  and  to  superintend  the  digging  for 
precious  stones ;  in  the  same  manner  that  Ceylon  gov- 
ernors of  past  years  visited  Arippo  during  the  pearl- 
fishing. 

The  "diggings"  of  the  kings  of  Kandy  must  have 
been  conducted  on  a  most  extensive  scale.  Not  only 
has  the  Vale  of  Rubies  been  regularly  turned  up  for 
many  acres,  but  all  the  numerous  plains  in  the  vicinity 
are  full  of  pits,  some  of  very  large  size  and  of  a  depth 
varying  from  three  to  seventeen  feet.  The  Newera 
Ellia  Plain,  the  Moonstone  Plain,  the  Kondapalle" 


52          Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

Plain,  the  Elk  Plains,  the  Totapella  Plains,  the  Hor- 
ton  Plains,  the  Bopatalava  Plains,  the  Augara  Plains 
(translated  the  "  Diggings"),  and  many  others  extend- 
ing over  a  surface  of  thirty  miles,  are  all  more  or  less 
studded  by  deep  pits  formed  by  the  ancient  searchers 
for  gems,  which  in  those  days  were  a  royal  monopoly. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  search  for  gems 
would  have  been  thus  persevered  in  unless  it  was  found 
to  be  remunerative ;  but  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  no 
Englishmen  are  ever  to  be  seen  at  work  at  this  em- 
ployment. The  natives  would  still  continue  the  search, 
were  they  permitted,  upon  the  "Vale  of  Rubies;"  but 
I  warned  them  oft'  on  purchasing  the  land ;  and  I  have 
several  good  specimens  of  gems  which  I  have  dis- 
covered by  digging  two  feet  beneath  the  surface. 

The  surface  soil  being  of  a  light,  peaty  quality,  the 
stones,  from  their  greater  gravity,  lie  beneath,  mixed 
with  a  rounded  quartz  gravel,  which  in  ages  past  must 
have  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  running  water. 
This  quartz  gravel,  with  its  mixture  of  gems,  rests  upon 
a  stiff  white  pipe-clay. 

In  this  stratum  of  gravel  an  infinite  number  of  small, 
and  for  the  most  part  worthless,  specimens  of  gems  are 
found,  consisting  of  sapphire,  ruby,  emerald,  jacinth, 
tourmaline,  chrysoberyl,  zircon,  cat's-eye,  "  moon- 
stone," and  "  star-stone."  Occasionally  a  stone  of 
value  rewards  the  patient  digger ;  but,  unless  he 
thoroughly  understands  it,  he  is  apt  to  pass  over  the 
gems  of  most  value  as  pieces  of  ironstone. 

The  mineralogy  of  Ceylon  has  hitherto  been  little 
understood.  It  has  often  been  suggested  as  the 
"  Ophir"  of  the  time  of  Solomon,  and  doubtless,  from 
its  production  of  gems,  it  might  deserve  the  name. 


Mineralogy  of  Ceylon.  53 

It  has  hitherto  been  the  opinion  of  most  writers  on 
Ceylon  that  the  precious  metals  do  not  exist  in  the 
island ;  and  Dr.  Davy  in  his  work  makes  an  unquali- 
fied assertion  to  that  effect.  But  from  the  discoveries 
recently  made,  I  am  of  opinion  that  it  exists  in  -very 
large  quantities  in  the  mountainous  districts  of  the 
island. 

It  is  amusing  to  see  the  positive  assertions  of  a  clever 
man  upset  by  a  few  uneducated  sailors. 

A  few  men  of  the  latter  class,  who  had  been  at  the 
gold-diggings  both  in  California  and  Australia,  hap- 
pened to  engage  in  a  ship  bound  for  Colombo.  Upon 
arrival  they  obtained  leave  from  the  captain  for  a  stroll 
on  shore,  and  they  took  the  road  toward  Kandy,  and 
when  about  half-way  it  struck  them,  from  the  appear- 
ance of  the  rocks  in  the  uneven  bed  of  a  river,  called 
the  Maha  Oya,  "that  gold  must  exist  in  its  sands." 
They  had  no  geological  reason  tor  this  opinion  ;  but 
the  river  happened  to  be  very  like  those  in  California 
in  which  they  had  been  accustomed  to  find  gold.  They 
accordingly  set  to  work  with  a  tin  pan  to  wash  the 
sand,  and  to  the  astonishment  of  every  one  in  Ceylon, 
and  to  the  utter  confusion  of  Dr.  Davy's  opinions,  they 
actually  discovered  gold  I 

The  quantity  was  small,  but  the  men  were  very 
sanguine  of  success,  and  were  making  their  prepara- 
tions for  working  on  a  more  extensive  scale,  when  they 
were  all  prostrated  by  jungle  fever — a  guardian-spirit 
of  the  gold  at  Ambepusse1,  which  will  ever  effectually 
protect  it  from  Europeans. 

They  all  returned  to  Colombo,  and,  when  .conva- 
lescent, they  proceeded  to  Newera  Ellia,  naturally  con- 
cluding that  the  gold  which  existed  in  dust  in  the  rivers 
5* 


•54          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

below  must  be  washed  down  from  the  richer  stores  of 
the  mountains. 

Their  first  discovery  of  gold  at  Newera  Ellia  was  on 
the  I4th  June,  1854,  on  the  second  day  of  their  search 
in  that  locality.  The  first  gold  was  found  in  the  "Vale 
of  Rubies." 

I  had  advised  them  to  make  their  first  search  in  that 
spot  for  this  reason :  that,  as  the  precious  stones  had 
there  settled  in  the  largest  numbers,  from  their  superior 
gravity,  it  was  natural  to  conclude  that,  if  gold  should 
exist,  it  would,  from  its  gravity,  be  somewhere  below 
the  precious  stones  or  in  their  vicinity. 

From  the  facility  with  which  it  has  been  discovered, 
it  is  impossible  to  form  an  opinion  as  to  the  quantity  or 
the  extent  to  which  it  will  eventually  be  developed. 
It  is  equally  impossible  to  predict  the  future  discoveries 
which  may  be  made  of  other  minerals.  It  is  well 
known  that  quicksilver  was  found  at  Cotta,  six  miles 
from  Colombo,  in  the  year  1797.  It  was  in  small 
quantities,  and  was  neglected  by  the  government,  and 
no  extended  search  was  prosecuted.  The  present  search 
for  gold  may  bring  to  light  mineral  resources  of  Ceylon 
which  have  hitherto  lain  hidden. 

The  minerals  proved  to  exist  up  to  the  present  time 
are  gold,  quicksilver,  plumbago  and  iron.  The  two 
latter  are  of  the  finest  quality  and  in  immense  abun- 
dance. The  rocks  of  Ceylon  are  primitive,  consisting 
of  granite,  gneiss  and  quartz.  Of  these  the  two  latter 
predominate.  Dolomite  also  exists  in  large  quantities 
up  to  an  elevation  of  five  thousand  feet,  but  not  beyond 
this  height. 

Plumbago  is  disseminated  throughout  the  whole  of 
both  soil  and  rocks  in  Ceylon,  and  may  be  seen  cover- 


Mineral  Resources.  55 

ing  the  surface  in  the  drains  by  the  road  side,  after  a  re- 
cent shower. 

It  is  principally  found  at  Ratnapoora  and  at  Belligam, 
in  large,  detached  kidney-shaped  masses,  from  four  to 
twenty  feet  below  the  surface.  The  cost  of  digging 
and  the  transport  are  the  only  expenses  attending  it,  as 
the  supply  is  inexhaustible.  Its  component  parts  are 
nineteen  of  carbon  and  one  of  iron. 

It  exists  in  such  quantities  in  the  gneiss  rocks  that 
upon  their  decomposition  it  is  seen  in  bright  specks 
like  silver  throughout. 

This  gneiss  rock,  when  in  a  peculiar  stage  of  decom- 
position, has  the  appearance  and  consistency  of  yellow 
brick,  speckled  with  plumbago.  It  exists  in  this  state 
in  immense  masses,  and  forms  a  valuable  building- 
stone,  as  it  can  be  cut  with  ease  to  any  shape  required, 
and,  though  soft  when  dug,  it  hardens  by  exposure  to 
the  air.  It  has  also  the  valuable  property  of  with- 
standing the  greatest  heat ;  and  for  furnace  building  it 
is  superior  to  the  best  Stourbridge  fire-bricks. 

The  finest  quality  of  iron  is  found  upon  the  moun- 
tains in  various  forms,  from  the  small  iron-stone  gravel 
to  large  masses  of  many  tons  in  weight  protruding 
from  the  earth's  surface. 

So  fine  is  that  considered  at  Newera  Ellia  and  the 
vicinity  that  the  native  blacksmiths  have  been  accus- 
tomed from  time  immemorial  to  make  periodical  visits 
for  the  purpose  of  smelting  the  ore.  The  average 
specimens  of  this  produce  -about  eighty  per  cent,  of 
pure  metal,  even  by  the  coarse  native  process  of  smelt- 
ing. The  operations  are  as  follows  : 

Having  procured  the  desired  amount  of  ore,  it  is 


56          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

rendered  as  small  as  possible  by  pounding  with  a 
hammer. 

A  platform  is  then  built  of  clay,  about  six  feet  in 
length  by  three  feet  in  height  and  width. 

A  small  well  is  formed  in  the  centre  of  the  platform, 
about  eighteen  inches  in  depth  and  diameter,  egg- 
shaped. 

A  few  inches  from  the  bottom  of  this  well  is  an  air- 
passage,  connected  with  a  pipe  and  bellows. 

The  well  is  then  filled  with  alternate  layers  of  char- 
coal and  pulverized  iron  ore ;  the  fire  is  lighted,  and 
the  process  of  smelting  commences. 

The  bellows  are  formed  of  two  inflated  skins,  like  a 
double  "bagpipe."  Each  foot  of  the  "  bellows-blower" 
is  strapped  to  one  skin,  the  pipes  of  the  bellows  being 
fixed  in  the  air-hole  of  the  blast.  He  then  works  the 
skins  alternately  by  moving  his  feet  up  and  down,  be- 
ing assisted  in  this  treadmill  kind  of  labor  by  the  elas- 
ticity of  two  bamboos,  of  eight  or  ten  feet  in  length, 
the  butts  of  which,  being  firmly  fixed  in  the  ground, 
enable  him  to  retain  his  balance  by  grasping  one  with 
either  hand.  From  the  yielding  top  of  each  bamboo, 
a  string  descends  attached  to  either  big  toe  ;  thus  the 
downward  pressure  of  each  foot  upon  the  bellows 
strains  upon  the  bamboo  top  as  a  fish  bears  upon  a 
fishing-rod,  and  the  spring  of  the  bamboo  assists  him  in 
lifting  up  his  leg.  Without  this  assistance,  it  would 
be  impossible  to  continue  the  exertion  for  the  time  re- 
quired. 

While  the  "bellows-blower"  is  thus  getting  up  a 
blaze,  another  man  attends  upon  the  well,  which  he 
continues  to  feed  alternately  with  fresh  ore  and  a  cor- 


Native  Blacksmiths.  57 

responding  amount  of  charcoal,  every  now  and  then 
throwing  in  a  handful  of  fine  sand  as  a  flux. 

The  return  for  a  whole  day's  puffing  and  blowing 
will  be  about  twenty  pounds  weight  of  badly-smelted 
iron.  This  is  subsequently  remelted,  and  is  eventually 
worked  up  into  hatchets,  hoes,  betel-crackers,  etc.,  etc., 
being  of  a  superior  quality  to  the  best  Swedish  iron. 

If  the  native  blacksmith  were  to  value  his  time  at 
only  sixpence  per  diem  from  the  day  on  which  he  first 
started  for  the  mountains  till  the  day  that  he  returned 
from  his  iron-smelting  expedition,  he  would  find  that 
his  iron  would  have  cost  him  rather  a  high  price  per 
hundredweight ;  and  if  he  were  to  make  the  same  cal- 
culation of  the  value  of  time,  he  would  discover  that 
by  the  time  he  had  completed  one  axe  he  could  have 
purchased  ready  made,  for  one-third  the  money,  an 
English  tool  of  superior  manufacture.  This,  however, 
is  not  their  style  of  calculation.  Time  has  no  value, 
according  to  their  crude  ideas;  therefore,  if  they  want 
an  article,  and  can  produce  it  without  the  actual  outlay 
of  cash,  no  matter  how  much  time  is  expended,  they 
will  prefer  that  method  of  obtaining  it. 

Unfortunately,  the  expense  of  transit  is  so  heavy  from 
Newera  Ellia  to  Colombo,  that  this  valuable  metal,  like 
the  fine  timber  of  the  forests,  must  remain  useless. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

POVERTY  OF  SOIL — CEYLON  SUGAR — FATALITY  OF  CLIMATE — 
SUPPOSED  FERTILITY  OF  SOIL — NATIVE  CULTIVATION — NE- 
GLECT OF  RICE  CULTIVATION — ABANDONED  RESERVOIRS — 
FORMER  PROSPERITY— RUINS  OF  CITIES  — POLLANARU  A — 
THE  GREAT  DAGOBAr-ARCHITECTURAL  RELICS — THE  ROCK 
TEMPLE — DESTRUCTION  OF  POPULATION — NEGLECTED  CA- 
PABILITIES— SUGGESTIONS  FOR  INCREASING  POPULATION — 
PROGRESS  OF  PESTILENCE — DESERTED  VILLAGES — DIFFI- 
CULTIES IN  THE  CULTIVATION  OF  RICE — DIVISION  OF  LABOR 
— NATIVE  AGRICULTURE. 

FROM  the  foregoing  description,  the  reader  will 
have  inferred  that  Newera  Ellia  is  a  delightful 
place  of  residence,  with  a  mean  temperature  of  60° 
Fahr.,  abounding  with  beautiful  views  of  mountain  and 
plain  and  of  boundless  panoramas  in  the  vicinity.  He 
will  also  have  discovered  that,  in  addition  to  the  health- 
iness of  its  climate,  its  natural  resources  are  confined 
to  its  timber  and  mineral  productions,  as  the  soil  is  de- 
cidedly poor. 

The  appearance  of  the  latter  has  deceived  every  one, 
especially  the  black  soil  of  the  patina,  which  my  bailiff, 
on  his  first  arrival,  declared  to  be  excellent.  Lord 
Torrington,  who  is  well  known  as  an  agriculturist,  was 
equally  deceived.  He  was  very  confident  in  the  opinion 
that  "  it  only  required  draining  to  enable  it  to  produce 
58 


Poverty  of  Soil.  59 

anything."  The  real  fact  is,  that  it  is  far  inferior  to  the 
forest-land,  and  will  not  pay  for  the  working. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  my  decided  opinion  that  the  gen- 
erality of  the  forest-land  at  Newera  Ellia  and  the  vicin- 
ity is  superior  to  that  in  other  parts  of  Ceylon. 

There  are  necessarily  rich  lots  every  now  and  then 
in  such  a  large  extent  as  the  surface  of  the  low  country  ; 
but  these  lots  usually  lie  on  the  banks  of  rivers  which 
have  been  subjected  to  inundations,  and  they  are  not 
fair  samples  of  Ceylon  soil.  A  river's  bank  or  a  val- 
ley's bottom  must  be  tolerably  good  even  in  the  poorest 
country. 

The  great  proof  of  the  general  poverty  of  Ceylon  is 
shown  in  the  failure  of  every  agricultural  experiment 
in  which  a  rich  soil  is  required. 

Cinnamon  thrives  ;  but  why?  It  delights  in  a  soil  of 
quartz  sand,  in  which  nothing  else  would  grow. 

Cocoa-nut  trees  flourish  for  the  same  reason  ;  sea  air, 
a  sandy  soil  and  a  dry  subsoil  are  all  that  the  cocoa-nut 
requires. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  tropical  productions  which 
require  a  strong  soil  invariably  prove  failures,  and 
sugar,  cotton,  indigo,  hemp  and  tobacco  cannot  possi- 
bly be  cultivated  with  success. 

Even  on  the  alluvial  soil  upon  the  banks  of  rivers 
sugar  does  not  pay  the  proprietor.  The  only  sugar 
estate  in  the  island  that  can  keep  its  head  above  water 
is  the  Peredenia  estate,  within  four  miles  of  Kandy. 
This,  again,  lies  upon  the  bank  of  the  Mahawelli  river, 
and  it  has  also  the  advantage  of  a  home  market  for  its 
produce,  as  it  supplies  the  interior  of  Ceylon  at  the  rate 
of  twenty-three  shillings  per  cwt.  upon  the  spot. 

Any  person  who  thoroughly  understands  the  practi- 


60          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

cal  cultivation  of  the  sugar-cane  can  tell  the  quality  of 
sugar  that  will  be  produced  by  an  examination  of  the 
soil.  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  no  soil  in  Ceylon 
will  produce  a  sample  of  fine,  straw-colored,  dry, 
bright,  large-crystaled  sugar.  The  finest  sample  ever 
produced  of  Ceylon  sugar  is  a  dull  gray,  and  always 
moist,  requiring  a  very  large  proportion  of  lime  in  the 
manufacture,  without  which  it  could  neither  be  cleansed 
nor  crystalized. 

The  sugar  cane,  to  produce  fine  sugar,  requires  a 
rich,  stifF,  and  very  dry  soil.  In  Ceylon,  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  stiff  soil  existing.  The  alluvial  soil 
upon  the  banks  of  rivers  is  adapted  for  the  growth  of 
cotton  and  tobacco,  but  not  for  the  sugar-cane.  In  such 
light  and  moist  alluvial  soil  the  latter  will  grow  to  a 
great  size,  and  will  yield  a  large  quantity  of  juice  in 
which  the  saccharometer  may  stand  well ;  but  the  de- 
gree of  strength  indicated  will  proceed  from  an  immense 
proportion  of  mucilage,  which  will  give  much  trouble 
in  the  cleansing  during  boiling  ;  and  the  sugar  produced 
must  be  wanting  in  dryness  and  fine  color. 

There  are  several  rivers  in  Ceylon  whose  banks  would 
produce  good  cotton  and  tobacco,  especially  those  in  the 
districts  of  Hambantotte  and  Batticaloa  ;  such  as  the 
"  Wallawe,"  the  "  Yalle  river,"  the  "  Koombookanaar," 
etc. ;  but  even  here  the  good  soil  is  very  limited,  lying 
on  either  bank  for  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  width. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  unhealthiness  of  the  climate  is 
so  great  that  I  am  convinced  no  European  constitution 
could  withstand  it.  Even  the  natives  are  decimated 
at  certain  seasons  by  the  most  virulent  fevers  and 
dysentery. 

These  diseases  generally  prevail  to  the  greatest  extent 


Supposed  Fertility  of  Soil,  61 

during  the  dry  season.  This  district  is  particularly  sub- 
ject to  severe  droughts ;  months  pass  away  without  a 
drop  of  rain  or  a  cloud  upon  the  sky.  Every  pool  and 
tank  is  dried  up ;  the  rivers  forsake  their  banks,  and  a 
trifling  stream  trickles  over  the  sandy  bed.  Thus  all 
the  rotten  wood,  dead  leaves  and  putrid  vegetation 
brought  down  by  the  torrent  during  the  wet  season  are 
left  upon  the  dried  bed  to  infect  the  air  with  miasma. 

This  deadly  climate  would  be  an  insurmountable 
obstacle  to  the  success  of  estates.  Even  could  mana- 
gers be  found  to  brave  the  danger,  one  season  of  sick- 
ness and  death  among  the  coolies  would  give  the  estate 
a  name  which  would  deprive  it  of  all  future  supplies 
of  labor. 

Indigo  is  indigenous  to  Ceylon,  but  it  is  of  an  in- 
ferior quality,  and  an  experiment  made  in  its  cultiva- 
tion was  a  total  failure. 

In  fact,  nothing  will  permanently  succeed  in  Ceylon 
soil  without  abundance  of  manure,  with  the  exception 
of  cinnamon  and  cocoa-nuts.  Even  the  native  gardens 
will  not  produce  a  tolerable  sample  of  the  common 
sweet  potato  without  manure,  a  positive  proof  of  the 
general  poverty  of  the  soil. 

Nevertheless,  Ceylon  has  had  a  character  for  fertility. 
Bennett,  in  his  work  entitled  "  Ceylon  and  its  Capa- 
bilities," describes  the  island  in  the  most  florid  terms, 
as  "  the  most  important  and  valuable  of  all  the  insular 
possessions  of  the  imperial  crown."  Again  he  speaks 
of  "  its  fertile  soil,  and  indigenous  vegetable  produc- 
tions," etc.,  etc.  Again  :  "  Ceylon,  though  compara- 
tively but  little  known,  is  pre-eminent  in  natural  re- 
sources." All  this  serves  to  mislead  the  public  opinion. 
Agricultural  experiments  in  a  tropical  country  in  a  little 
6 


62          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

garden  highly  manured  may  be  very  satisfactory  and 
very  amusing.  Everything  must  necessarily  come  to 
perfection  with  great  rapidity  ;  but  these  experiments 
are  no  proof  of  what  Ceylon  will  produce,  and  the 
popular  idea  of  its  fertility  has  been  at  length  proved  a 
delusion. 

It  is  a  dangerous  thing  for  any  man  to  sit  down  to 
"make"  a  book.  If  he  has  had  personal  experience, 
let  him  write  a  description  of  those  subjects  which  he 
understands  ;  but  if  he  attempts  to  "  make"  a  book,  he 
must  necessarily  collect  information  from  hearsay, 
when  he  will  most  probably  gather  some  "chaff"  with 
his  grain. 

Can  any  man,  when  describing  the  "fertility"  of 
Ceylon,  be  aware  that  newly-cleared  forest-land  will 
only  produce  one  crop  of  the  miserable  grain  called 
korrakan  ?  Can  he  understand  why  the  greater  por- 
tion of  Ceylon  is  covered  by  dense  thorny  jungles?  It 
is  simply  this — that  the  land  is  so  desperately  poor  that 
it  will  only  produce  one  crop,  and  thus  an  immense 
acreage  is  required  for  the  support  of  a  few  inhabitants  ; 
thus,  from  ages  past  up  to  the  present  time,  the  natives 
have  been  continually  felling  fresh  forest  and  deserting 
the  last  clearing,  which  has  accordingly  grown  into  a 
dense,  thorny  jungle,  forming  what  are  termed  the 
"  Chenars"  of  Ceylon. 

So  fully  aware  are  the  natives  of  the  impossibility  of 
getting  more  than  one  crop  out  of  the  land  that  they 
plant  all  that  they  require  at  the  same  time.  Thus 
may  be  seen  in  a  field  of  korrakan  (a  small  grain), 
Indian  corn,  millet  and  pumpkins,  all  growing  together, 
and  harvested  as  they  respectively  become  ripe. 

The  pi'incipal  articles  of  native  cultivation  are  rice, 


Neglect  of  Rice  Cultivation.  63 

korrakan,  Indian  corn,  betel,  areca-nuts,  pumpkins, 
onions,  garlic,  gingelly-oil  seed,  tobacco,  millet,  red 
peppers,  curry  seed  and  sweet  potatoes. 

The  staple  articles  of  Ceylon  production  are  coffee, 
cinnamon  and  cocoa-nut  oil,  which  are  for  the  most 
part  cultivated  and  manufactured  by  Europeans. 

The  chief  article  of  native  consumption,  "rice," 
should  be  an  export  from  Ceylon  ;  but  there  has  been 
an  unaccountable  neglect  on  the  part  of  government 
regarding  the  production  of  this  important  grain,  for 
the  supply  of  which  Ceylon  is  mainly  dependent  upon 
importation.  In  the  hitherto  overrated  general  re- 
sources of  Ceylon,  the  cultivation  of  rice  has  scarcely 
been  deemed  worthy  of  notice  ;  the  all-absorbing  subject 
of  coffee  cultivation  has  withdrawn  the  attention  of  the 
government  from  that  particular  article,  for  the  pro- 
duction of  which  the  resources  of  Ceylon  are  both 
naturally  and  artificially  immense. 

This  neglect  is  the  more  extraordinary  as  the  in- 
crease of  coffee  cultivation  involves  a  proportionate 
increase  in  the  consumption  of  rice,  by  the  additional 
influx  of  coolie  labor  from  the  coast  of  India  ;  there- 
fore the  price  and  supply  of  rice  in  Ceylon  become 
questions  of  similar  importance  to  the  price  of  corn  in 
England.  This  dependence  upon  a  foreign  soil  for  the 
supply  involves  the  necessary  fluctuations  in  price 
caused  by  uncertain  arrivals  and  precarious  harvests ; 
and  the  importance  of  an  unlimited  supply  at  an  even 
rate  may  be  imagined  when  it  is  known  that  every  na- 
tive consumes  a  bushel  of  rice  per  month,  when  he  can 
obtain  it. 

Nevertheless,  the  great  capabilities  of  Ceylon  for  the 
cultivation  of  this  all-important  "  staff  of  life"  are  en- 


64          Eight  Tears1   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

tirely  neglected  by  the  government.  The  tanks  which 
afforded  a  supply  of  water  for  millions  in  former  ages 
now  lie  idle  and  out  of  repair ;  the  pelican  sails  in  soli- 
tude upon  their  waters,  and  the  crocodile  basks  upon 
their  shores ;  the  thousands  of  acres  which  formerly 
produced  rice  for  a  dense  population  are  now  matted 
over  by  a  thorny  and  impenetrable  jungle.  The  wild 
buffalo,  descendant  from  the  ancient  stock  which  tilled 
the  ground  of  a  great  nation,  now  roams  through  a  barren 
forest,  which  in  olden  times  was  a  soil  glistening  with 
fertility.  The  ruins  of  the  mighty  cities  tower  high 
above  the  trees,  sad  monuments  of  desolation,  where 
all  was  once  flourishing,  and  where  thousands  dwelt 
within  their  walls. 

All  are  passed  away ;  and  in  the  wreck  of  past  ages 
we  trace  the  great  resources  of  the  country,  which  pro- 
duced sufficient  food  to  support  millions ;  while  for  the 
present  comparatively  small  population  Ceylon  is  de- 
pendent upon  imports. 

These  lakes,  or  tanks,  were  works  of  much  art  and 
of  immense  labor  for  the  purpose  of  reservoirs,  from 
the  supply  of  which  the  requisite  amount  of  land  could 
be  irrigated  for  rice  cultivation.  A  valley  of  the  re- 
quired extent  being  selected,  the  courses  of  neighboring 
or  distant  rivers  were  conducted  into  it,  and  the  exit  of 
the  waters  was  prevented  by  great  causeways,  or  dams, 
of  solid  masonry,  which  extended  for  some  miles  across 
the  lower  side  of  the  valley  thus  converted  into  a  lake. 
The  exit  of  the  water  was  then  regulated  by  means  of 
sluices,  from  which  it  was  conducted  by  channels  to  the 
rice-lands. 

<  These  tanks  are  of  various  extent,  and  extremely  nu- 
merous throughout  Ceylon.     The  largest  are  those  of 


Former  Prosperity.  65 

Minneria,  Kandellai,  Padavellkiellom,  and  the  Giant's 
Tank.  These  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  miles  in 
circumference  ;  but  in  former  times,  when  the  sluices 
were  in  repair  and  the  volume  of  water  at  its  full  height, 
they  must  have  been  much  larger. 

In  those  days  the  existence  of  a  reservoir  of  water 
was  a  certain  indication  of  a  populous  and  flourishing 
neighborhood  ;  and  the  chief  cities  of  the  country  were 
accordingly  situated  in  those  places  which  were  always 
certain  of  a  supply.  So  careful  were  the  inhabitants 
in  husbanding  those  liquid  resources  upon  which  their 
very  existence  depended  that  even  the  surplus  waters 
of  one  lake  were  not  allowed  to  escape  unheeded. 
Channels  were  cut,  connecting  a  chain  of  tanks  of 
slightly  varying  elevations,  over  an  extent  of  sixty  or 
seventy  miles  of  apparently  flat  country,  and  the  over- 
flow of  one  tank  was  thus  conducted  in  succession 
from  lake  to  lake,  until  they  all  attained  the  desired 
level. 

In  this  manner  was  the  greater  portion  of  Ceylon 
kept  in  the  highest  state  of  cultivation.  From  the 
north  to  the  south  the  island  was  thickly  peopled,  and 
the  only  portions  which  then  remained  in  the  hands  of 
nature  were  those  which  are  now  seen  in  the  state  of 
primeval  forest. 

Well  may  Ceylon  in  those  times  have  deserved  the 
name  of  the  "  Paradise  of  the  East."  The  beauties 
which  nature  has  showered  upon  the  land  were  height- 
ened by  cultivation  ;  the  forest-capped  mountains  rose 
from  a  waving  sea  of  green  ;  the  valleys  teemed  with 
wealth  ;  no  thorny  jungles  gave  a  barren  cast  to  the 
interminable  prospect,  but  the  golden  tints  of  ripening 
crops  spread  to  the  horizon.  Temples  stood  upon  the 
6  *  E 


66          Eight  Tears1   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

hill-tops ;  cities  were  studded  over  the  land,  their  lofty 
dagobas  and  palaces  reflected  on  the  glassy  surface 
of  the  lakes,  from  which  their  millions  of  inhabit- 
ants derived  their  food,  their  wealth  and  their  very 
life. 

The  remains  of  these  cities  sufficiently  attest  the 
former  amount  of  population  and  the  comparative  civ- 
ilization which  existed  at  that  remote  era  among  the 
progenitors  of  the  present  degraded  race  of  barbarians. 
The  ruins  of  "Anaradupoora,"  which  cover  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-six  square  miles  of  ground,  are  all  that 
remain  of  the  noble  city  which  stood  within  its  walls 
in  a  square  of  sixteen  miles.  Some  idea  of  the  amount 
of  population  may  be  arrived  at,  when  we  consider  the 
present  density  of  inhabitants  in  all  Indian  houses  and 
towns.  Millions  must,  therefore,  have  streamed  from 
the  gates  of  a  city  to  which  our  modern  London  was 
comparatively  a  village. 

There  is  a  degree  of  sameness  in  the  ruins  of  all  the 
ancient  cities  of  Ceylon  which  renders  a  description 
tedious.  Those  of  "Anaradupoora"  are  the  largest  in 
extent,  and  the  buildings  appear  to  have  been  more 
lofty,  the  great  dagoba  having  exceeded  four  hundred 
feet  in  height ;  but  the  ruins  do  not  exhibit  the  same 
"finish"  in  the  style  of  architecture  which  is  seen  in 
the  remains  of  other  towns. 

Among  these,  "Topare,"  anciently  called  "Polla- 
narua,"  stands  foremost.  This  city  appears  to  have 
been  laid  out  with  a  degree  of  taste  which  would  have 
done  credit  to  our  modern  towns. 

Before  its  principal  gate  stretched  a  beautiful  lake  of 
about  fifteen  miles'  circumference  (now  only  nine). 
The  approach  to  this  gate  was  by  a  broad  road,  upon 


Pottanarua.  67 

the  top  of  a  stone  causeway,  of  between  two  and  three 
miles  in  length,  which  formed  a  massive  dam  to  the 
waters  of  the  lake  which  washed  its  base.  To  the 
right  of  this  dam  stretched  many  miles  of  cultivation  ; 
to  the  left,  on  the  farther  shores  of  the  lake,  lay  park- 
like  grass-lands,  studded  with  forest  trees,  some  of 
whose  mighty  descendants  still  exist  in  the  noble 
"tamarind,"  rising  above  all  others.  Let  us  return  in 
imagination  to  Pollanarua  as  it  once  stood.  Having 
arrived  upon  the  causeway  in  the  approach  to  the  city, 
the  scene  must  have  been  beautiful  in  the  extreme :  the 
silvery  lake,  like  a  broad  mirror,  in  the  midst  of  a 
tropical  park ;  the  flowering  trees  shadowing  it's 
waters ;  the  groves  of  tamarinds  sheltering  its  many 
nooks  and  bays ;  the  gorgeous  blossoms  of  the  pink 
lotus  resting  on  its  glassy  surface  ;  and  the  carpet-like 
glades  of  verdant  pasturage,  stretching  far  away  upon 
the  opposite  shores,  covered  with  countless  elephants, 
tanned  to  complete  obedience.  Then  on  the  right, 
below  the  massive  granite  steps  which  form  the  cause- 
way, the  water  rushing  from  the  sluice  carries  fertility 
among  a  thousand  fields,  and  countless  laborers  and 
cattle  till  the  ground  :  the  sturdy  buffaloes  straining  at 
the  plough,  the  women,  laden  with  golden  sheaves  of 
corn  and  baskets  of  fruit,  crowding  along  the  palm- 
shaded  road  winding  toward  the  city,  from  whose  gate 
a  countless  throng  are  passing  and  returning.  Behold 
the  mighty  city  !  rising  like  a  snow-white  cloud  from 
the  broad  margin  of  the  waters.  The  groves  of  cocoa- 
nuts  and  palms  of  every  kind,  grouped  in  the  inner 
gardens,  throwing  a  cool  shade  upon  the  polished 
walls ;  the  lofty  palaces  towering  among  the  stately 
areca  trees,  and  the  gilded  domes  reflecting  a  blaze  of 


68          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

light  from  the  rays  of  a  midday  sun.  Such  let  us  sup- 
pose the  exterior  of  Pollanarua. 

The  gates  are  entered,  and  a  broad  street,  straight  as 
an  arrow,  lies  before  us,  shaded  on  either  side  by  rows 
of  palms.  Here  stand,  on  either  hand,  the  dwellings 
of  the  principal  inhabitants,  bordering  the  wide  space, 
which  continues  its  straight  and  shady  course  for  about 
four  miles  in  length.  In  the  centre,  standing  in  a  spa- 
cious circle,  rises  the  great  Dagoba,  forming  a  grand 
coup  (Fceil,  from  the  entrance  gate.  Two  hundred  and 
sixty  feet  from  the  base  the  Dagoba  rears  its  lofty  sum- 
mit. Two  circular  terraces,  each  of  some  twenty  feet 
in  height,  rising  one  upon  the  other,  with  a  width  of 
fifty  feet,  and  a  diameter  at  the  base  of  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  from  the  step-like  platform  upon  which 
the  Dagoba  stands.  These  are  ascended  by  broad 
flights  of  steps,  each  terrace  forming  a  circular  prome- 
nade around  the  Dagoba  ;  the  whole  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  white  marble,  being  covered  with  polished 
stucco  ornamented  with  figures  in  bas-relief.  The 
Dagoba  is  a  solid  mass  of  brickwork  in  the  shape  of  a 
dome,  which  rises  from  the  upper  terrace.  The  whole 
is  covered  with  polished  stucco,  and  surmounted  by  a 
gilded  spire  standing  upon  a  square  pedestal  of  stucco, 
highly  ornamented  with  large  figures,  also  in  bas-relief; 
this  pedestal  is  a  cube  of  about  thirty  feet,  supporting 
the  tall  gilded  spire,  which  is  surmounted  by  a  golden 
umbrella. 

Around  the  base  of  the  Dagoba  on  the  upper  terrace 
are  eight  small  entrances  with  highly-ornamented  ex- 
teriors. These  are  the  doors  to  eight  similar  chambers 
of  about  twelve  feet  square,  in  each  of  which  is  a  small 
altar  and  carved  golden  idol. 


The  Great  Dagoba.  69 

This  Dagoba  forms  the  main  centre  of  the  city,  from 
which  streets  branch  off  in  all  directions,  radiating 
from  the  circular  space  in  which  it  stands. 

The  main  street  from  the  entrance-gate  continues  to 
the  further  extremity  of  the  city,  being  crossed  at  right 
angles  in  the  centre  by  a  similar  street,  thus  forming 
two  great  main  streets  through  the  city,  terminating  in 
four  great  gates  or  entrances  to  the  town — north,  south, 
east  and  west. 

Continuing  along  the  main  street  from  the  great 
Dagoba  for  about  a  mile,  we  face  another  Dagoba  of 
similar  appearance,  but  of  smaller  dimensions,  also 
standing  in  a  spacious  circle.  Near  this  rises  the  king's 
palace,  a  noble  building  of  great  height,  edged  at  the 
corner  by  narrow  octagon  towers. 

At  the  further  extremity  of  this  main  street,  close  to 
the  opposite  entrance-gate,  is  the  rock  temple,  with  the 
massive  idols  of  Buddha  flanking  the  entrance. 

This,  from  the  form  and  position  of  the  existing 
ruins,  we  may  conceive  to  have  been  the  appearance 
of  Pollanarua  in  its  days  of  prosperity.  But  what 
remains  of  its  grandeur?  It  has  vanished  like  "  a  tale 
that  is  told ;"  it  is  passed  away  like  a  dream  ;  the  pal- 
aces are  dust ;  the  grassy  sod  has  grown  in  mounds  over 
the  ruins  of  streets  and  fallen  houses ;  nature  has  turfed 
them  in  one  common  grave  with  their  inhabitants. 
The  lofty  palms  have  faded  away  and  given  place  to 
forest  trees,  whose  roots  spring  from  the  crumbled 
ruins  ;  the  bear  and  the  leopard  crouch  in  the  porches 
of  the  temples ;  the  owl  roosts  in  the  casements  of  the 
palaces  ;  the  jackal  roams  among  the  ruins  in  vain  ; 
there  i&  not  a  bone  left  for  him  to  gnaw  of  the  multi- 
tudes which  have  passed  away.  There  is  their  hand- 


70          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

writing  upon  the  temple  wall,  upon  the  granite  slab 
which  has  mocked  at  Time ;  but  there  is  no  man  to 
decipher  it.  There  are  the  gigantic  idols  before  whom 
millions  have  bowed ;  there  is  the  same  vacant  stare 
upon  their  features  of  rock  which  gazed  upon  the  mul- 
titudes of  yore ;  but  they  no  longer  stare  upon  the 
pomp  of  the  glorious  city,  but  upon  ruin,  and  rank 
weeds,  and  utter  desolation.  How  many  suns  have 
risen  and  how  many  nights  have  darkened  the  earth 
since  silence  has  reigned  amidst  the  city,  no  man  can 
tell.  No  mortal  can  say  what  fate  befell  those  hosts  of 
heathens,  nor  when  they  vanished  from  the  earth.  Day 
and  night  succeed  each  other,  and  the  shade  of  the  set- 
ting sun  still  falls  from  the  great  Dagoba  ;  but  it  is  the 
"valley  of  the  shadow  of  death"  upon  which  that 
shadow  falls  like  a  pall  over  the  corpse  of  a  nation.. 

The  great  Dagoba  now  remains  a  heap  of  moulder- 
ing brickwork,  still  retaining  its  form,  but  shorn  of  all 
its  beauty.  The  stucco  covering  has  almost  all  disap- 
peared, leaving  a  patch  here  and  there  upon  the  most 
sheltered  portions  of  the  building.  Scrubby  brush- 
wood and  rank  grass  and  lichens  have  for  the  most 
part  covered  its  surface,  giving  it  the  appearance  rather 
of  a  huge  mound  of  earth  than  of  an  ancient  building. 
A  portion  of  the  palace  is  also  standing,  and,  although 
for  the  most  part  blocked  up  with  ruins,  there  is  still 
sufficient  to  denote  its  former  importance.  The  bricks, 
or  rather  the  tiles,  of  which  all  the  buildings  are  com- 
posed, are  of  such  an  imperishable  nature  that  they 
still  adhere  to  each  other  in  large  masses  in  spots  where 
portions  of  the  buildings  have  fallen. 

In  one  portion  of  the  ruins  there  are  a  number  of 
beautiful  fluted  colums,  with  carved  capitals,  still  re- 


Architectural  Ruins.  *j\ 

maining  in  a  perfect  state.  Among  these  are  the  ruins 
of  a  large  flight  of  steps ;  near  them,  again,  a  stone- 
lined  tank,  which  was  evidently  intended  as  a  bath  ; 
and  everything  denotes  the  former  comfort  and  arrange- 
ment of  a  first-class  establishment.  There  are  innu- 
merable relics,  all  interesting  and  worthy  of  individual 
attention,  throughout  the  ruins  over  a  surface  of  many 
miles,  but  they  are  mostly  overgrown  with  jungle  or 
covered  with  rank  grass.  The  apparent  undulations 
of  the  ground  in  all  directions  are  simply  the  remains 
of  fallen  streets  and  buildings  overgrown  in  like  man- 
ner with  tangled  vegetation. 

The  most  interesting,  as  being  the  most  perfect, 
specimen,  is  the  small  rock  temple,  which,  being  hewn 
out  of  the  solid  stone,  is  still  in  complete  preservation. 
This  is  a  small  chamber  in  the  face  of  an  abrupt  rock, 
which,  doubtless,  being  partly  a  natural  cavern,  has 
been  enlarged  to  the  present  size  by  the  chisel ;  and  the 
entrance,  which  may  have  been  originally  a  small  hole, 
has  been  shaped  into  an  arched  doorway.  The  interior 
is  not  more  than  perhaps  twenty-five  feet  by  eighteen, 
and  is  simply  fitted  up  with  an  altar  and  the  three 
figures  of  Buddha,  in  the  positions  in  which  he  is 
usually  represented — the  sitting,  the  reclining  and  the 
standing  postures. 

The  exterior  of  the  temple  is  far  more  interesting. 
The  narrow  archway  is  flanked  on  either  side  by  two 
inclined  planes,  hewn  from  the  face  of  the  rock,  about 
eighteen  feet  high  by  twelve  in  width.  These  are  com- 
pletely covered  with  an  inscription  in  the  old  Pali  lan- 
guage, which  has  never  been  translated.  Upon  the  left 
of  one  plain  is  a  kind  of  sunken  area  hewn  out  of  the 
rock,  in  which  sits  a  colossal  figure  of  Buddha,  about 


72          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

twenty  feet  in  height.  On  the  right  of  the  other  plane 
is  a  figure  in  the  standing  posture  about  the  same 
height;  and  still  farther  to  the  right,  likewise  hewn 
from  the  solid  rock,  is  an  immense  figure  in  the  recum- 
bent posture,  which  is  about  fifty-six  feet  in  length,  or, 
as  I  measured  it,  not  quite  nineteen  paces. 

These  figures  are  of  a  far  superior  class  of  sculpture 
to  the  idols  usually  seen  in  Ceylon,  especially  that  in 
the  reclining  posture,  in  which  the  impression  of  the 
head  upon  the  pillow  is  so  well  executed  that  the  mas- 
sive pillow  of  gneiss  rock  actually  appears  yielding  to 
the  weight  of  the  head. 

This  temple  is  supposed  to  be  coeval  with  the  city, 
which  was  founded  about  three  hundred  years  before 
Christ,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  ruins  for  up- 
ward of  six  hundred  years.  The  comparatively  recent 
date  of  its  destruction  renders  its  obscurity  the  more 
mysterious,  as  there  is  no  mention  made  of  its  annihila- 
tion in  any  of  the  Cingalese  records,  although  the  city 
is  constantly  mentioned  during  the  time  of  its  prosperity 
in  the  native  history  of  Ceylon.  It  is  my  opinion  that 
its  destruction  was  caused  by  famine. 

In  those  days  the  kings  of  Ceylon  were  perpetually 
at  war  with  each  other.  The  Queen  of  the  South, 
from  the  great  city  of  Mahagam  in  the  Hambantotte 
district,  made  constant  war  with  the  kings  of  Pollanarua. 
They  again  made  war  with  the  Arabs  and  Malabars, 
who  had  invaded  the  northern  districts  of  Ceylon  ;  and 
as  in  modern  warfare  the  great  art  consists  in  cutting 
off  the  enemy's  supplies,  so  in  those  days  the  first  and 
most  decisive  blow  to  be  inflicted  was  the  cutting  off 
the  "  water."  Thus,  by  simply  turning  the  course  of  a 
river  which  supplied  a  principal  tank,  not  only  would 


Destruction  of  Population.  73 

that  tank  lose  its  supply,  but  the  whole  of  the  connected 
chain  of  lakes  dependent  upon  the  principal  would  in 
like  manner  be  deprived  of  water. 

This  being  the  case,  the  first  summer  or  dry  season 
would  lay  waste  the  country.  I  have  myself  seen  the 
lake  of  Minneria,  which  is  twenty-two  miles  in  cir- 
cumference, evaporate  to  the  small  dimensions  of  four 
miles  circuit  during  a  dry  season. 

A  population  of  some  millions  wholly  dependent 
upon  the  supply  of  rice  for  their  existence  would  be 
thrown  into  sudden  starvation  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
water.  Thus  have  the  nations  died  out  like  a  fire  for 
lack  of  fuel. 

This  cause  will  account  for  the  decay  of  the  great 
cities  of  Ceylon.  The  population  gone,  the  wind  and 
the  rain  would  howl  through  the  deserted  dwellings, 
the  white  ants  would  devour  the  supporting  beams,  the 
elephants  would  rub  their  colossal  forms  against  the 
already  tottering  houses,  and  decay  would  proceed  with 
a  rapidity  unknown  in  a  cooler  clime.  As  the  seed 
germinates  in  a  few  hours  in  a  tropical  country,  so 
with  equal  haste  the  body  of  both  vegetable  and  animal 
decays  when  life  is  extinct.  A  perpetual  and  hurrying 
change  is  visible  in  all  things.  A  few  showers,  and 
the  surface  of  the  earth  is  teeming  with  verdure  ;  a  few 
days  of  drought,  and  the  seeds  already  formed  are  fall- 
ing to  the  earth,  springing  in  their  turn  to  life  at  the 
approach  of  moisture.  The  same  rapidity  of  change  is 
exhibited  in  their  decay.  The  heaps  of  vegetable  pu- 
tridity upon  the  banks  of  rivers,  when  a  swollen  torrent 
has  torn  the  luxuriant  plants  from  the  loosened  soil,  are 
but  the  effects  of  a  few  hours'  change.  The  tree  that 
arrives  at  maturity  in  a  few  years  rots  in  as  short  a 
7 


74          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

time  when  required  for  durability :  thus  it  is  no  mys- 
tery, that  either  a  house  or  a  city  should  shortly  fall  to 
decay  when  the  occupant  is  gone. 

In  like  manner,  and  with  still  greater  rapidity,  is  a 
change  effected  in  the  face  of  nature.  As  the  flowers 
usurp  the  place  of  weeds  under  the  care  of  man,  so, 
when  his  hand  is  wanting,  a  few  short  weeks  bury 
them  beneath  an  overwhelming  mass  of  thorns.  In 
one  year  a  jungle  will  conceal  all  signs  of  recent  culti- 
vation. Is  it,  therefore,  a  mystery  that  Ceylon  is  cov- 
ered with  such  vast  tracts  of  thorny  jungle,  now  that 
her  inhabitants  are  gone  ? 

Throughout  the  world  there  is  a  perpetual  war  be- 
tween man  and  nature,  but  in  no  country  has  the 
original  curse  of  the  earth  been  carried  out  to  a  fuller 
extent  than  in  Ceylon :  "  thorns  also  and  thistles  shall 
it  bring  forth  to  thee."  This  is  indeed  exemplified 
when  a  few  months'  neglect  of  once-cultivated  land 
renders  it  almost  impassable,  and  where  man  has 
vanished  from  the  earth  and  thorny  jungles  have  cov- 
ered the  once  broad  tracts  of  prosperous  cultivation. 

A  few  years  will  thus  produce  an  almost  total  ruin 
throughout  a  deserted  city.  The  air  of  desolation 
created  by  a  solitude  of  six  centuries  can  therefore  be 
easily  imagined.  There  exists,  however,  among  the 
ruins  of  Pollanarua  a  curious  instance  of  the  power  of 
the  smallest  apparent  magnitude  to  destroy  the  works 
of  man.  At  some  remote  period  a  bird  has  dropped 
the  seed  of  the  banian  tree  (Jicus  Indicus)  upon  the 
decaying  summit  of  a  dagoba.  This,  germinating, 
has  struck  its  root  downward  through  the  brickwork, 
and,  by  the  gradual  and  insinuating  progress  of  its 
growth,  it  has  split  the  immense  mass  of  building  into 


Suggestions  for  Increasing  Population.        75 

two  sections  ;  the  twisted  roots  now  appearing  through 
the  clefts,  while  the  victorious  tree  waves  in  exultation 
above  the  ruin :  an  emblem  of  the  silent  growth  of 
"  civilization"  which  will  overturn  the  immense  fabric 
of  heathen  superstition. 

It  is  placed  beyond  a  doubt  that  the  rice-growing  re- 
sources of  Ceylon  have  been  suffered  to  lie  dormant 
since  the  disappearance  of  her  ancient  population  ;  and 
to  these  neglected  capabilities  the  attention  of  govern- 
ment should  be  directed. 

An  experiment  might  be  commenced  on  a  small 
scale  by  the  repair  of  one  tank — say  Kandellai,  which 
is  only  twenty-six  miles  from  Trincomalee  on  the  high- 
road to  Kandy.  This  tank,  when  the  dam  and  sluices 
were  repaired,  would  rise  to  about  nine  feet  above 
its  present  level,  and  would  irrigate  many  thousand 
acres. 

The  grand  desideratum  in  the  improvement  of  Cey- 
lon is  the  increase  of  the  population ;  all  of  whom 
should,  in  some  measure,  be  made  to  increase  the 
revenue. 

The  government  should  therefore  hazard  this  one 
experiment  to  induce  the  emigration  of  the  industrious 
class  of  Chinese  to  the  shores  of  Ceylon.  Show  them 
a  never-failing  supply  of  water  and  land  of  unlimited 
extent  to  be  had  on  easy  terms,  and  the  country  would 
soon  resume  its  original  prosperity.  A  tax  of  five  per 
cent,  upon  the  produce  of  the  land,  to  commence  in  the 
ratio  of  .o  per  cent,  for  the  first  year,  three  per  cent,  for 
the  second  and  third,  and  the  full  amount  of  five  for  the 
fourth,  would  be  a  fair  and  easy  rent  to  the  settler,  and 
would  not  only  repay  the  government  for  the  cost  of 
repairing  the  tank,  but  would  in  a  few  years  become  a 


76          Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

considerable  source  of  revenue,  in  addition  to  the  in- 
creased value  of  the  land,  now  worthless,  by  a  system 
of  cultivation. 

Should  the  first  experiment  succeed,  the  plan  might 
be  continued  throughout  Ceylon,  and  the  soil  of  her 
own  shores  would  produce  a  supply  for  the  island  con- 
sumption. The  revenue  would  be  derived  direct  from 
the  land  which  now  produces  nothing  but  thorny  jungle. 
The  import  trade  of  Ceylon  would  be  increased  in  pro- 
portion to  the  influx  of  population,  and  the  duties  upon 
enlarged  imports  would  again  tend  to  swell  the  revenue 
of  the  country. 

The  felling  and  clearing  of  the  jungle,  which  culti- 
vation would  render  necessary,  would  tend,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  dispel  the  fevers  and  malaria  always  pro- 
duced by  a  want  of  free  circulation  of  air.  In  a  jungle- 
covered  country  like  Ceylon,  diseases  of  the  most  ma- 
lignant character  are  harbored  in  thes.e  dense  and  un- 
disturbed tracts,  which  year  after  year  reap  a  pesti- 
lential harvest  from  the  thinly-scattered  population. 
Cholera,  dysentery,  fever  and  small-pox  all  appear  in 
their  turn  and  annually  sweep  whole  villages  away.  I 
have  frequently  hailed  with  pleasure  the  distant  tope 
of  waving  cocoa-nut  trees  after  a  long  day's  journey  in 
a  broiling  sun,  when  I  have  cantered  toward  these 
shady  warders  of  cultivation  in  hopes  of  a  night's  halt 
at  a  village.  But  the  palms  have  sighed  in  the  wind 
over  tenantless  abodes,  and  the  mouldering  dead  have 
lain  beneath  their  shade.  Not  a  living  soul  remaining  ; 
all  swept  away  by  pestilence  ;  huts  recently  fallen  to 
decay,  fruits  ripening  on  the  trees,  and  no  hand  left  to 
gather  them  ;  the  shaddock  and  the  lime  falling  to  the 
earth  to  be  preyed  upon  by  the  worm,  like  their  former 


Deserted   Villages.  77 

masters.  All  dead  ;  not  one  left  to  tell  the  miserable 
tale. 

The  decay  of  the  population  is  still  progressing,  and 
the  next  fifty  years  will  see  whole  districts  left  unin- 
habited unless  something  can  be  done  to  prevent  it. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  if  land  and  water  could  be 
obtained  from  government  in  a  comparatively  healthy 
and  populous  neighborhood,  many  would  migrate  to 
that  point  from  the  half-deserted  districts,  who  might 
assist  in  the  cultivation  of  the  country  instead  of  rotting 
in  a  closing  jungle. 

One  season  of  pestilence,  even  in  a  large  village, 
paves  the  road  for  a  similar  visitation  in  the  succeeding 
year,  for  this  reason  : 

Say  that  a  village  comprising  two  hundred  men  is 
reduced  by  sickness  to  a  population  of  one  hundred. 
The  remaining  one  hundred  cannot  keep  in  cultivation 
the  land  formerly  open  ;  therefore,  the  jungle  closes 
over  the  surface  and  rapidly  encroaches  upon  the  vil- 
lage. Thus  the  circulation  of  air  is  impeded  and 
disease  again  halves  the  population.  In  each  succes- 
sive year  the  wretched  inhabitants  are  thinned  out,  and 
disease  becomes  the  more  certain  as  the  jungle  con- 
tinues to  advance.  At  length  the  miserable  few  are  no 
longer  sufficient  to  cultivate  the  rice-lands  ;  their  num- 
bers will  not  even  suffice  for  driving  their  buffaloes. 
The  jungle  closes  round  the  village  ;  cholera  finishes 
the  scene  by  sweeping  off  the  remnant ;  and  groves  of 
cocoa-nut  trees,  towering  over  the  thorny  jungle,  become 
monuments  sacred  to  the  memory  of  an  exterminated 
village. 

The  number  of  villages  which  have  thus  died  out  is 
almost  incredible.  In  a  day's  ride  of  twenty  miles,  I 
7* 


78          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

have  passed  the  remains  of  as  many  as  three  or  four ; 
how  many  more  may  have  vanished  in  the  depths  of 
the  jungle ! 

Wherever  the  cocoa-nut  trees  are  still  existing,  the 
ruin  of  the  village  must  have  been  comparatively  recent, 
as  the  wild  elephants  generally  overturn  them  in  a  few 
years  after  the  disappearance  of  the  inhabitants,  brow- 
sing upon  the  succulent  tops,  and  destroying  every 
trace  of  a  former  habitation. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  when  sickness  is  annually  re- 
ducing the  population  of  a  district,  the  inhabitants,  and 
accordingly  the  produce  of  the  land,  must  shortly  come 
to  an  end.  In  all  times  of  pestilence  the  first  impulse 
among  the  natives  is  to  fly  from  the  neighborhood,  but 
at  present  there  is  no  place  of  refuge.  It  is,  therefore, 
a  matter  of  certainty  that  the  repair  of  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal tanks  would  draw  together  in  thousands  the  sur- 
vivors of  many  half-perished  villages,  who  would 
otherwise  fall  victims  to  succeeding  years  of  sickness. 

The  successful  cultivation  of  rice  at  all  times  requires 
an  extensive  population,  and  large  grazing-grounds  for 
the  support  of  the  buffaloes  necessary  for  the  tillage  of 
the  land. 

The  labor  of  constructing  dams  and  forming  water- 
courses is  performed  by  a  general  gathering,  similar  to 
the  American  principle  of  a  "bee;"  and,  as  "many 
hands  make  light  work,"  the  cultivation  proceeds  with 
great  rapidity.  Thus  a  large  population  can  bring  into 
tillage  a  greater  individual  proportion  of  ground  than  a 
smaller  number  of  laborers,  and  the  rice  is  iccordingly 
produced  at  a  cheaper  rate. 

Few  people  understand  the  difficulties  with  which  a 
small  village  has  to  contend  in  the  cultivation  of  rice. 


Difficulties  in  the  Cultivation  of  Rice.         79 

The  continual  repairs  of  temporary  dams,  which  are 
nightly  trodden  down  and  destroyed  by  elephants ;  the 
filling  up  of  the  water-courses  from  the  same  cause ; 
the  nocturnal  attacks  upon  the  crops  by  elephants  and 
hogs  ;  the  devastating  attacks  of  birds  as  the  grain  be- 
comes ripe ;  a  scarcity  of  water  at  the  exact  moment 
that  it  is  required ;  and  other  numerous  difficulties 
which  are  scarcely  felt  by  a  large  population. 

By  the  latter  the  advantage  is  enjoyed  of  the  division 
of  labor.  The  dams  are  built  of  permanent  material ; 
every  work  is  rapidly  completed ;  the  night-fires  blaze 
in  the  lofty  watch-houses,  while  the  shouts  of  the 
watchers  scare  the  wild  beasts  from  the  crops.  Hun- 
dreds of  children  are  daily  screaming  from  their  high 
perches  to  scare  away  the  birds.  Rattles  worked  by 
long  lines  extend  in  every  direction,  unceasingly  pulled 
by  the  people  in  the  watch-houses ;  wind-clackers 
(similar  to  our  cherry-clackers)  are  whirling  in  all 
places ;  and  by  the  division  of  the  toil  among  a  multi- 
tude the  individual  work  proceeds  without  fatigue. 

Every  native  is  perfectly  aware  of  this  advantage  in 
rice  cultivation  ;  and  were  the  supply  of  water  ensured 
to  them  by  the  repair  of  a  principal  tank,  they  would 
gather  around  its  margin.  The  thorny  jungles  would 
soon  disappear  from  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  a 
densely-populated  and  prosperous  district  would  again 
exist  where  all  has  been  a  wilderness  for  a  thousand 
years. 

The  system  of  rice  cultivation  is  exceedingly  labori- 
ous. The  first  consideration  being  a  supply  of  water, 
the  second  is  a  perfect  level,  or  series  of  levels,  to  be  ir- 
rigated. Thus  a  hill-side  must  be  terraced  out  into  a 
succession  of  platforms  or  steps ;  and  a  plain,  however 


So          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

apparently  flat,  must,  by  the  requisite  embankments,  be 
reduced  to  the  most  perfect  surface. 

This  being  completed,  the  water  is  laid  on  for  a  cer- 
tain time,  until  the  soil  has  become  excessively  soft  and 
muddy.  It  is  then  run  oft',  and  the  land  is  ploughed  by 
a  simple  implement,  which,  being  drawn  by  two  buffa- 
loes, stirs  up  the  soil  to  a  depth  of  eighteen  inches. 
This  finished,  the  water  is  again  laid  on  until  the  mud 
becomes  so  soft  that  a  man  will  sink  knee-deep.  In 
this  state  it  is  then  trodden  over  by  buffaloes,  driven 
backward  and  forward  in  large  gangs,  until  the  mud  is 
so  thoroughly  mixed  that  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the 
water  it  sinks  to  a  perfect  level. 

Upon  this  surface  the  paddy,  having  been  previously 
soaked  in  water,  is  now  sown ;  and,  in  the  course  of  a 
fortnight,  it  attains  a  height  of  about  four  inches.  The 
water  is  now  again  laid  on,  and  continued  at  intervals 
until  within  a  fortnight  of  the  grain  becoming  ripe.  It 
is  then  run  off;  the  ground  hardens,  the  ripe  crop  is 
harvested  by  the  sickle,  and  the  grain  is  trodden  out  by 
buffaloes.  The  rice  is  then  separated  from  the  paddy 
or  husk  by  being  pounded  in  a  wooden  mortar. 

This  is  a  style  of  cultivation  in  which  the  Cingalese 
particularly  excel ;  nothing  can  be  more  beautifully 
regular  than  their  flights  of  green  terraces  from  the 
bottoms  of  the  valleys  to  the  very  summits  of  the  hills ; 
and  the  labor  required  in  their  formation  must  be  im- 
mense, as  they  are  frequently  six  feet  one  above  the 
other.  The  Cingalese  are  peculiarly  a  rice-growing 
nation  ;  give  them  an  abundant  supply  of  water  and 
land  on  easy  terms,  and  they  will  not  remain  idle. 


CHAPTER    V. 

REAL  COST  OF  LAND — WANT  OF  COMMUNICATION — COFFEE- 
PLANTING—COMPARISON  BETWEEN  FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH 
SETTLERS — LANDSLIPS  —  FOREST-CLEARING — MANURING — 
THE  COFFEE  BUG — RATS — FATTED  STOCK — SUGGESTIONS 
FOR  SHEEP-FARMING — ATTACK  OF  A  LEOPARD — LEOPARDS 
AND  CHETAHS — BOY  DEVOURED — TRAPS — MUSK  CATS  AND 
THE  MONGOOSE — VERMIN  OF  CEYLON. 

WHAT  is  the  government  price  of  land  in  Ceylon  ? 
and  what  is  the  real  cost  of  the  land  ?  These 
are  two  questions  which  should  be  considered  sepa- 
rately, and  with  grave  attention,  by  the  intending  settler 
or  capitalist. 

The  upset  price  of  government  land  is  twenty  shil- 
lings per  acre ;  thus,  the  inexperienced  purchaser  is 
very  apt  to  be  led  away  by  the  apparently  low  sum  per 
acre  into  a  purchase  of  great  extent.  The  question  of 
the  real  cost  will  then  be  solved  at  his  expense.  There 
are  few  colonies  belonging  to  Great  Britain  where  the 
government  price  of  land  is  so  high,  compared  to  the 
value  of  the  natural  productions  of  the  soil. 

The  staple  commodity  of  Ceylon  being  coffee,  I  will 
assume  that  a  purchase  is  concluded  with  the  govern- 
ment for  one  thousand  acres  of  land,  at  the  upset  price 
of  twenty  shillings  per  acre.  What  has  the  purchaser 

F  81 


8s          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

obtained  for  this  sum?  One  thousand  acres  of  dense 
forest,  to  which  there  is  no  road.  The  one  thousand 
pounds  passes  into  the  government  chest,  and  the 
purchaser  is  no  longer  thought  of;  he  is  left  to 
shift  for  himself  and  to  make  the  most  of  his  bad 
bargain. 

He  is,  therefore,  in  this  position :  He  has  parted 
with  one  thousand  pounds  for  a  similar  number  of 
acres  of  land,  which  will  not  yield  him  one  penny  in 
any  shape  until  he  has  cleared  it  from  forest.  This  he 
immediately  commences  by  giving  out  contracts,  and 
the  forest  is  cleared,  lopped  and  burnt.  The  ground  is 
then  planted  with  coffee,  and  the  planter  has  to  wait 
three  years  for  a  return.  By  the  time  of  full  bearing 
the  whole  cost  of  felling,  burning,  planting  and  clean- 
ing will  be  about  eight  pounds  per  acre  ;  this,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  prime  cost  of  the  land,  and  about  two 
thousand  pounds  expended  in  buildings,  machinery, 
etc.,  etc.,  will  bring  the  price  of  the  land,  when  in  a 
yielding  condition,  to  eleven  pounds  an  acre  at  the  low- 
est calculation.  Thus  before  his  land  yields  him  one 
fraction,  he  will  have  invested  eleven  thousand  pounds, 
if  he  clears  the  whole  of  his  purchase.  Many  per- 
sons lose  sight  of  this  necessary  outlay  when  first  pur- 
chasing their  land,  and  subsequently  discover  to  their 
cost  that  their  capital  is  insufficient  to  bring  the  estate 
into  cultivation. 

Then  comes  the  question  of  a  road.  The  govern- 
ment will  give  him  no  assistance ;  accordingly,  the 
whole  of  his  crop  must  be  conveyed  on  coolies'  heads 
along  an  arduous  path  to  the  nearest  highway,  perhaps 
fifteen  miles  distant.  Even  this  rough  path  of  fifteen 
miles  the  planter  must  form  at  his  own  expense. 


Want  of  Communication.  83 

Considering  the  risks  that  are  always  attendant  upon 
agricultural  pursuits,  and  especially  upon  coffee-plant- 
ing, the  price  of  rough  land  must  be  acknowledged  as 
absurdly  high  under  the  present  conditions  of  sales. 
There  is  a  great  medium  to  be  observed,  however,  in 
the  sales  of  crown  land ;  too  low  a  price  is  even  a 
greater  evil  than  too  high  a  rate,  as  it  is  apt  to  encour- 
age speculators  in  land,  who  do  much  injury  to  a  colony 
by  locking  up  large  tracts  in  an  uncultivated  state,  to 
take  the  chance  of  a  future  rise  in  the  price. 

This  evil  might  easily  be  avoided  by  retaining  the 
present  bona  Jide  price  of  the  land  per  acre,  qualified 
by  an  arrangement  that  one-half  of  the  purchase  money 
should  be  expended  in  the  formation  of  roads  from  the 
land  in  question.  This  would  be  of  immense  assistance 
to  the  planters,  especially  in  a  populous  planting  neigh- 
borhood, where  the  purchases  of  land  were  large  and 
numerous,  in  which  case  the  aggregate  sum  would  be 
sufficient  to  form  a  carriage  road  to  the  main  highway, 
which  might  be  kept  in  repair  by  a  slight  toll.  An 
arrangement  of  this  kind  is  not  only  fair  to  the  planters, 
but  would  be  ultimately  equally  beneficial  to  the  gov- 
ernment. Every  fresh  sale  of  land  would  ensure  either 
a  new  road  or  the  improvement  of  an  old  one  ;  and  the 
country  would  be  opened  up  through  the  most  remote 
districts.  This  very  fact  of  good  communication  would 
expedite  the  sales  of  crown  lands,  which  are  now  value- 
less from  their  isolated  position. 

Coffee-planting  in  Ceylon  has  passed  through  the 
various  stages  inseparable  from  every  "  mania." 

In  the  early  days  of  our  possession,  the  Kandian  dis- 
trict was  little  known,  and  sanguine  imaginations 
painted  the  hidden  prospect  in  their  ideal  colors,  ex- 


84          Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

pecting  that  a  trace  once  opened  to  the  interior  would 
be  the  road  to  fortune. 

How  these  golden  expectations  have  been  disap- 
pointed the  broken  fortunes  of  many  enterprising 
planters  can  explain. 

The  protective  duty  being  withdrawn,  a  competition 
with  foreign  coffee  at  once  reduced  the  splendid  prices 
of  olden  times  to  a  more  moderate  standard,  and  took 
forty  per  cent,  out  of  the  pockets  of  the  planters. 
Coffee,  which  in  those  days  brought  from  one  hundred 
shillings  to  one  hundred  and  forty  shillings  per  hundred- 
weight, is  now  reduced  to  from  sixty  shillings  to  eighty 
shillings. 

This  sudden  reduction  created  an  equally  suddeii 
panic  among  the  planters,  many  of  whom  were  men 
of  straw,  who  had  rushed  to  Ceylon  at  the  first  cry  of 
coffee  "fortunes,"  and  who  had  embarked  on  an  exten- 
sive scale  with  borrowed  capital.  These  were  the  first 
to  smash.  In  those  days  the  expenses  of  bringing  land 
into  cultivation  were  more  than  double  the  present 
rate,  and,  the  cultivation  of  coffee  not  being  so  well 
understood,  the  produce  per  acre  was  comparatively 
small.  This  combination  of  untoward  circumstances 
was  sufficient  cause  for  the  alarm  which  ensued,  and 
estates  were  thrust  into  the  market  and  knocked  down 
for  whatever  could  be  realized.  Mercantile  houses 
were  dragged  down  into  the  general  ruin,  and  a  dark 
cloud  settled  over  the  Cinnamon  Isle. 

As  the  after  effects  of  a  "hurricane"  are  a  more 
healthy  atmosphere  and  an  increased  vigor  in  all  vege- 
tation, so  are  the  usual  sequels  to  a  panic  in  the  com- 
mercial world.  Things  are  brought  down  to  their  real 
value  and  level ;  men  of  straw  are  swept  away,  and 


Coffee- Planting.  85 

affairs  are  commenced  anew  upon  a  sound  and  steady 
basis.  Capital  is  invested  with  caution,  and  improve- 
ments are  entered  upon  step  by  step,  until  success  is 
assured. 

The  reduction  in  the  price  of  coffee  was  accordingly 
met  by  a  corresponding  system  of  expenditure  and  by 
an  improved  state  of  cultivation  ;  and  at  the  present 
time  the  agricultural  prospects  of  the  colony  are  in  a 
more  healthy  state  than  they  have  ever  been  since  the 
commencement  of  coffee  cultivation. 

There  is  no  longer  any  doubt  that  a  coffee  estate  in  a 
good  situation  in  Ceylon  will  pay  a  large  interest  for 
the  capital  invested,  and  will  ultimately  enrich  the  pro- 
prietor, provided  that  he  has  his  oivn.  capital  to  work 
his  estate,  that  he  gives  his  own  personal  superintend- 
ence and  that  he  understands  the  management.  These 
are  the  usual  conditions  of  success  in  most  affairs ;  but 
a  coffee  estate  is  not  unfrequently  abused  for  not  paying 
when  it  is  worked  with  borrowed  capital  at  a  high 
rate  of  interest  under  questionable  superintendence. 

It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  define  the  amount  which  con- 
stitutes a  "fortune :"  that  which  is  enough  for  one  man 
is  a  pittance  for  another ;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  that, 
no  matter  how  small  his  first  capital,  the  coffee-planter 
hopes  to  make  his  "fortune." 

Now,  even  allowing  a  net  profit  of  twenty  per  cent, 
per  annum  on  the  capital  invested,  it  must  take  at  least 
ten  years  to  add  double  the  amount  to  the  first  capital, 
allowing  no  increase  to  the  spare  capital  required  for 
working  the  estate.  A  rapid  fortune  can  never  be 
made  by  working  a  coffee  estate.  Years  of  patient  in- 
dustry and  toil,  chequered  by  many  disappointments, 
may  eventually  reward  the  proprietor ;  but  it  will  be  at 

8 


36          Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

a  time  of  life  when  a  long  residence  in  the  tropics  will 
have  given  him  a  distaste  for  the  chilly  atmosphere  of 
old  England  ;  his  early  friends  will  have  been  scattered 
abroad,  and  he  will  meet  few  faces  to  welcome  him  on 
his  native  shores.  What  cold  is  so  severe  as  a  cold  re- 
ception ? — no  thermometer  can  mark  the  degree.  No 
fortune,  however  large,  can  compensate  for  the  loss  of 
home,  and  friends,  and  early  associations. 

This  feeling  is  peculiarly  strong  throughout  the 
British  nation.  You  cannot  convince  an  English 
settler  that  he  will  be  abroad  for  an  indefinite  number 
of  years ;  the  idea  would  be  equivalent  to  transporta- 
tion :  he  consoles  himself  with  the  hope  that  something 
will  turn  up  to  alter  the  apparent  certainty  of  his  exile  ; 
and  in  this  hope,  with  his  mind  ever  fixed  upon  his  re- 
turn, he  does  nothing  for  posterity  in  the  colony.  He 
rarely  even  plants  a  fruit  tree,  hoping  that  his  stay  will 
not  allow  him  to  gather  from  it.  This  accounts  for  the 
poverty  of  the  gardens  and  enclosures  around  the 
houses  of  the  English  inhabitants,  and  the  general 
dearth  of  any  fruits  worth  eating. 

How  different  is  the  appearance  of  French  colonies, 
and  how  different  are  the  feelings  of  the  settler  !  The 
word  "adieu"  once  spoken,  he  sighs  an  eternal  fare- 
well to  the  shores  of  "  La  belle  France,"  and,  with  the 
natural  light-hearted  ness  of  the  nation,  he  settles  cheer- 
fully in  a  colony  as  his  adopted  country.  He  lays  out 
his  grounds  with  taste,  and  plants  groves  of  exquisite 
fruit  trees,  whose  produce  will,  he  hopes,  be  tasted  by 
his  children  and  grandchildren.  Accordingly,  in  a 
French  colony  there  ia  a  tropical  beauty  in  the  culti- 
vated trees  and  flowers  which  is  seldom  seen  in  our 
possessions.  The  fruits  are  brought  to  perfection,  as 


Coffee- Planting.  87 

there  is  the  same  care  taken  in  pruning  and  grafting  the 
finest  kinds  as  in  our  gardens  in  England. 

A  Frenchman  is  necessarily  a  better  settler ;  every- 
thing is  arranged  for  permanency,  from  the  building 
of  a  house  to  the  cultivation  of  an  estate.  He  does  not 
distress  his  land  for  immediate  profit,  but  from  the 
very  commencement  he  adopts  a  system  of  the  highest 
cultivation. 

The  latter  is  now  acknowledged  as  the  most  remune- 
rative course  in  all  countries ;  and  its  good  effects  are 
already  seen  in  Ceylon,  where,  for  some  years  past, 
much  attention  has  been  devoted  to  manuring  on  coffee 
estates. 

No  crop  has  served  to  develop  the  natural  poverty  of 
the  soil  so  much  as  coffee  ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that, 
were  it  possible  to  procure  manure  in  sufficient  quantity, 
the  holes  should  be  well  filled  at  the  time  of  planting. 
This  would  give  an  increased  vigor  to  the  young  plant 
that  would  bring  the  tree  into  bearing  at  an  earlier  date, 
as  it  would  the  sooner  arrive  at  perfection. 

The  present  system  of  coffee-planting  on  a  good 
estate  is  particularly  interesting.  It  has  now  been 
proved  that  the  best  elevation  in  Ceylon  to  combine 
fine  quality  with  large  crops  is  from  twenty-five  hun- 
dred to  four  thousand  feet.  At  one  time  it  was  con- 
sidered that  the  finest  quality  was  produced  at  the 
highest  range  ;  but  the  estates  at  an  elevation  of  five 
thousand  feet  are  so  long  at  arriving  at  perfection,  and 
the  crop  produced  is  so  small,  that  the  lower  elevation 
is  preferred. 

In  the  coffee  districts  of  Ceylon  there  is  little  or  no 
level  ground  to  be  obtained,  and  the  steep  sides  of  the 
hills  offer  many  objections  to  cultivation.  The  soil, 


88          Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  $n  Ceylon. 

naturally  light  and  poor,  is  washed  by  every  shower, 
and  the  more  soluble  portions,  together  with  the  salts 
of  the  manure  applied  to  the  trees,  are  being  continu- 
ally robbed  by  the  heavy  rains.  Thus  it  is  next  to  im- 
possible to  keep  an  estate  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation, 
without  an  enormous  expense  in  the  constant  applica- 
tion of  manure. 

Many  estates  are  peculiarly  subject  to  landslips,  which 
are  likewise  produced  by  the  violence  of  the  rains.  In 
these  cases  the  destruction  is  frequently  to  a  large  ex- 
tent ;  great  rocks  are  detached  from  the  summits  of  the 
hills,  and  sweep  off  whole  lines  of  trees  in  their 
descent. 

Wherever  landslips  are  frequent,  they  may  be  taken 
as  an  evidence  of  a  poor,  clay  subsoil.  The  rain  soaks 
through  the  surface  ;  and  not  being  able  to  percolate 
through  the  clay  with  sufficient  rapidity,  it  lodges  be- 
tween the  two  strata,  loosening  the  upper  surface,  which 
slides  from  the  greasy  clay  ;  launched,  as  it  were,  by  its 
own  gravity  into  the  valley  below. 

This  is  the  worst  kind  of  soil  for  the  coffee  tree, 
whose  long  tap-root  Is  ever  seeking  nourishment  from 
beneath.  On  this  soil  it  is  very  common  to  see  a 
young  plantation  giving  great  promise  ;  but  as  the  trees 
increase  in  growth  the  tap-root  reaches  the  clay  sub- 
soil and  the  plantation  immediately  falls  off.  The 
subsoil  is  of  far  more  importance  to  the  coffee-tree  than 
the  upper  surface ;  the  latter  may  be  improved  by 
manure,  but  if  the  former  is  bad  there  is  no  remedy. 

The  first  thing  to  be  considered  being  the  soil,  and 
the  planter  being  satisfied  with  its  quality,  there  is 
another  item  of  equal  importance  to  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration when  choosing  a  locality  for  a  coffee  estate. 


Forest  -  Clearing.  89 

This  is  an  extent  of  grazing  land  sufficient  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  cattle  required  for  producing  manure. 

In  a  country  with  so  large  a  proportion  of  forest  as 
Ceylon,  this  is  not  always  practicable  ;  in  which  case 
land  should  be  cleared  and  grass  planted,  as  it  is  now 
proved  that  without  manure  an  estate  will  never  pay 
the  proprietor. 

The  locality  being  fixed  upon,  the  clearing  of  the 
forest  is  commenced.  The  felling  is  begun  from  the 
base  of  the  hills,  and  the  trees  being  cut  about  half 
through,  are  started  in  sections  of  about  an  acre  at  one 
fall.  This  is  easily  effected  by  felling  some  large  tree 
from  the  top,  which,  falling  upon  its  half-divided 
neighbor,  carries  everything  before  it  like  a  pack  of 
cards. 

The  number  of  acres  required  having  been  felled,  the 
boughs  and  small  branches  are  all  lopped,  and,  together 
with  the  cleared  underwood,  they  form  a  mass  over  the 
surface  of  the  ground  impervious  to  man  or  beast. 
This  mass,  exposed  to  a  powerful  sun,  soon  becomes 
sufficiently  dry  for  burning,  and,  the  time  of  a  brisk 
breeze  being  selected,  the  torch  is  applied. 

The  magnificent  sight  of  so  extensive  a  fire  is  suc- 
ceeded by  the  desolate  appearance  of  blackened  stumps 
and  smouldering  trunks  of  trees :  the  whole  of  the 
branches  and  underwood  having  been  swept  away  by 
the  mighty  blaze,  the  land  is  comparatively  clear. 

Holes  two  feet  square  are  now  dug  in  parallel  lines 
at  a  distance  of  from  six  to  eight  feet  apart  throughout 
the  estate,  and  advantage  being  taken  of  the  wet  sea- 
son, they  are  planted  with  young  coffee  trees  of  about 
twelve  inches  high.  Nothing  is  now  required  but  to 
keep  the  land  clean  until  the  trees  attain  the  height  of 

8* 


9C          Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

about  four  feet  and  come  into  bearing.  This,  at  an 
elevation  of  three  thousand  feet,  they  generally  do  in  two 
years  and  a  half.  The  stem  is  then  topped,  to  prevent 
its  higher  growth  and  to  produce  a  large  supply  of 
lateral  shoots. 

The  system  of  pruning  is  the  same  as  with  all  fruit 
trees  ;  the  old  wood  being  kept  down  to  induce  fruit- 
bearing  shoots,  whose  number  must  be  proportioned  to 
the  strength  of  the  tree. 

The  whole  success  of  the  estate  now  depends  upon 
constant  cleaning,  plentiful  manuring  and  careful 
pruning,  with  a  due  regard  to  a  frugal  expenditure  and 
care  in  the  up-keep  of  buildings,  etc.,  etc.  Much 
attention  is  also  required  in  the  management  of  the 
cattle  on  the  estate,  for  without  a  proper  system  the 
amount  of  manure  produced  will  be  proportionately 
small.  They  should  be  bedded  up  every  night  hock 
deep  with  fresh  litter,  and  the  manure  thus  formed 
should  be  allowed  to  remain  in  the  shed  until  it  is 
between  two  and  three  feet  deep.  It  should  then  be 
treated  on  a  "  Geoffrey"  pit  (named  after  its  inventor). 

This  is  the  simplest  and  most  perfect  method  for 
working  up  the  weeds  from  an  estate,  and  effectually 
destroying  their  seeds  at  the  same  time  that  they  are 
converted  into  manure. 

A  water-tight  platform  is  formed  of  stucco — say  forty 
feet  square — surrounded  by  a  wall  two  feel  high,  so  as 
to  form  a  tank.  Below  this  is  a  sunken  cistern — say 
eight  feet  square — into  which  the  drainage  would  be 
conducted  from  the  upper  platform.  In  this  cistern  a 
force-pump  is  fitted,  and  the  cistern  is  half  filled  with 
a  solution  of  saltpetre  and  sal-ammoniac. 

A  layer  of  weeds  and  rubbish  is  now  laid  upon  the 


Manuring.  91 

platform  for  a  depth  of  three  feet,  surmounted  by  a 
layer  of  good  dung  from  the  cattle  sheds  of  one  foot 
thick.  These  layers  are  continued  alternately  in  the 
proportion  of  three  to  one  of  weeds,  until  the  mass  is 
piled  to  a  height  of  twenty  feet,  the  last  layer  being 
good  dung.  Upon  this  mass  the  contents  of  the  cistern 
are  pumped  and  evenly  distributed  by  means  of  a 
spreader. 

This  mixture  promotes  the  most  rapid  decomposition 
of  vegetable  matter,  and,  combining  with  the  juices  of 
the  weeds  and  the  salts  of  the  dung,  it  drains  evenly 
through  the  whole  mass,  forming  a  most  perfect  com- 
post. The  surplus  moisture,  upon  reaching  the  bottom 
of  the  he#p,  drains  from  the  slightly  inclined  platform 
into  the  receiving  cistern,  and  is  again  pumped  over 
the  mass. 

This  is  the  cheapest  and  best  way  of  making  manure 
upon  an  estate,  the  cattle  sheds  and  pits  being  arranged 
in  the  different  localities  most  suitable  for  reducing  the 
labor  of  transport. 

The  coffee  berry,  when  ripe,  is  about  the  size  of  a 
cherry,  and  is  shaped  like  a  laurel  berry.  The  flesh 
has  a  sweet  but  vapid  taste,  and  encloses  two  seeds  of 
coffee.  These  are  carefully  packed  by  nature  in  a 
double  skin. 

The  cherry  coffee  is  gathered  by  coolies  at  the  rate 
of  two  bushels  each  per  diem,  and  is  cleared  from  the 
flesh  by  passing  through  a  pulper,  a  machine  consisting 
of  cylindrical  copper  graters,  which  tear  the  flesh  from 
the  berry  and  leave  the  coffee  in  its  second  covering  of 
parchment.  The  coffee  is  then  exposed  to  a  partial 
fermentation  by  being  piled  for  some  hours  in  a  large 
heap.  This  has  the  effect  of  loosening  the  fleshy  par- 


92          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

tides,  which,  by  washing  in  a  cistern  of  running  water, 
are  detached  from  the  berry.  It  is  then  rendered  per- 
fectly dry  in  the  sun  or  by  means  of  artificially  heated 
air  ;  and,  being  packed  in  bags,  it  is  forwarded  to  Co- 
lombo. Here  it  is  unpacked  and  sent  to  the  mill, 
which,  by  means  of  heavy  rollers,  detaches  the  parch- 
ment and  under  silver  skin,  and  leaves  the  grayish-blue 
berry  in  a  state  for  market.  The  injured  grains  are 
sorted  out  by  women,  and  the  coffee  is  packed  for  the 
last  time  and  shipped  to  England. 

A  good  and  well-managed  estate  should  produce  an 
average  crop  of  ten  hundredweight  per  acre,  leaving  a 
net  profit  of  fifteen  shillings  per  hundredweight  under 
favorable  circumstances.  Unfortunately,  it  is  next  to 
impossible  to  make  definite  calculations  in  all  agricul- 
tural pursuits :  the  inclemency  of  seasons  and  the  at- 
tacks of  vermin  are  constantly  marring  the  planter's 
expectations.  Among  the  latter  plagues  the  "bug" 
stands  foremost.  This  is  a  minute  and  gregarious  in- 
sect, which  lives  upon  the  juices  of  the  coffee  tree,  and 
accordingly  is  most  destructive  to  an  estate.  It  attacks 
a  variety  of  plants,  but  more  particularly  the  tribe  of 
jessamine  ;  thus  the  common  jessamine,  the  "  Gardenia" 
(Cape  jessamine)  and  the  coffee  {Jasminum  Ara- 
bicum)  are  more  especially  subject  to  its  ravages. 

The  dwelling  of  this  insect  is  frequently  confounded 
with  the  living  creature  itself.  This  dwelling  is  in 
shape  and  appearance  like  the  back  shell  of  a  tortoise, 
or,  still  more,  like  a  "  limpet,"  being  attached  to  the 
stem  of  the  tree  in  the  same  manner  that  the  latter  ad- 
heres to  a  rock.  This  is  the  nest  or  house,  which,  al- 
though no  larger  than  a  split  hempseed,  contains  some 
hundreds  of  the  "bug."  As  some  thousands  of  these 


The  Coffee  Bug— Rats.  93 

scaly  nests   exist   upon  one   tree,   myriads   of  insects 
must  be  feeding  upon  its  juices. 

The  effect  produced  upon  the  tree  is  a  blackened  and 
sooty  appearance,  like  a  London  shrub ;  the  branches 
look  withered,  and  the  berries  do  not  plump  out  to 
their  full  size,  but,  for  the  most  part,  fall  unripened 
from  the  tree.  This  attack  is  usually  of  about  two 
years'  duration ;  after  which  time  the  tree  loses  its 
blackened  appearance,  which  peels  off  the  surface  of 
the  leaves  like  gold-beaters'  skin,  and  they  appear  in 
their  natural  color.  Coffee  plants  of  young  growth  are 
liable  to  complete  destruction  if  severely  attacked  by 
"bug." 

Rats  are  also  very  destructive  to  an  estate  ;  they  are 
great  adepts  at  pruning,  and  completely  strip  the  trees 
of  their  young  shoots,  thus  utterly  destroying  a  crop. 
These  vermin  are  more  easily  guarded  against  than  the 
insect  tribe,  and  should  be  destroyed  by  poison.  Hog's 
lard,  ground  cocoa-nut  and  phosphorus  form  the  most 
certain  bait  and  poison  combined. 

These  are  some  of  the  drawbacks  to  coffee-planting, 
to  say  nothing  of  bad  seasons  and  fluctuating  prices, 
which,  if  properly  calculated,  considerably  lessen  the 
average  profits  of  an  estate,  as  it  must  be  remembered 
that  while  a  crop  is  reduced  in  quantity,  the  expenses 
continue  at  the  usual  rate,  and  are  severely  felt  when 
consecutive  years  bring  no  produce  to  meet  them. 

Were  it  not  for  the  poverty  of  the  soil,  the  stock  of 
cattle  required  on  a  coffee  estate  for  the  purpose  of 
manure  might  be  made  extremely  profitable,  and  the 
gain  upon  fatted  stock  would  pay  for  the  expense 
of  manuring  the  estate.  This  would  be  the  first  and 
most  reasonable  idea  to  occur  to  an  agriculturist — "  buy 


94          Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

poor  cattle  at  a  low  price,  fatten  them  for  the  butcher, 
and  they  give  both  profit  and  manure." 

Unfortunately,  the  natural  pasturage  is  not  sufficiently 
good  to  fatten  beasts  indiscriminately.  There  are  some 
few  out  of  a  herd  of  a  hundred  who  will  grow  fat  upon 
anything,  but  the  generality  will  not  improve  to  any 
great  degree.  This  accounts  for  the  scarcity  of  fine 
meat  throughout  Ceylon.  Were  the  soil  only  tolerably 
good,  so  that  oats,  vetches,  turnips  and  mangel  wurtzel 
could  be  grown  on  virgin  land  without  manure,  beasts 
might  be  stall-fed,  the  manure  doubled  by  that  method, 
and  a  profit  made  on  the  animals.  Pigs  are  now  kept 
extensively  on  coffee  estates  for  the  sake  of  their  manure, 
and  being  fed  on  Mauritius  grass  (a  coarse  description 
of  gigantic  "  couch")  and  a  liberal  allowance  of  cocoa- 
nut  oilcake  ("poonac"),  are  found  to  succeed,  although 
the  manure  is  somewhat  costly. 

English  or  Australian  sheep  have  hitherto  been  un- 
tried— for  what  reason  I  cannot  imagine,  unless  from 
the  expense  of  their  prime  cost,  which  is  about  two 
pounds  per  head.  These  thrive  to  such  perfection  at 
Newera  Ellia,  and  also  in  Kandy,  that  they  should  suc- 
ceed in  a  high  degree  in  the  medium  altitudes  of  the 
coffee  estates.  There  are  immense  tracts  of  country 
peculiarly  adapted  for  sheep-farming  throughout  the 
highlands  of  Ceylon,  especially  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  coffee  estates.  There  are  two  enemies,  however, 
against  which  they  would  have  to  contend — viz., 
"leopards"  and  "leeches."  The  former  are  so  destruc- 
tive that  the  shepherd  could  never  lose  sight  of  his 
flock  without  great  risk  ;  but  the  latter,  although  tron 
blesome,  are  not  to  be  so  much  dreaded  as  people  sup- 
pose. They  are  very  small,  and  the  quantity  of  blood 


Attack  of  a  Leopard.  95 

drawn  by  their  bite  is  so  trifling  that  no  injury  could 
possibly  follow,  unless  from  the  flies,  which  would  be 
apt  to  attack  the  sheep  on  the  smell  of  blood.  These 
are  drawbacks  which  might  be  easily  avoided  by  com- 
mon precaution,  and  I  feel  thoroughly  convinced  that 
sheep-farming  upon  the  highland  pasturage  would  be  a 
valuable  adjunct  to  a  coffee  estate,  both  as  productive 
of  manure  and  profit.  I  have  heard  the  same  opinion 
expressed  by  an  experienced  Australian  sheep-farmer. 

This  might  be  experimented  upon  in  the  "down" 
country  of  Ouva  with  great  hopes  of  success,  and  by  a 
commencement  upon  a  small  scale  the  risk  would  be 
trifling.  Here  there  is  an  immense  tract  of  country 
with  a  peculiar  short  grass  in  every  way  adapted  for 
sheep-pasturage,  and  with  the  additional  advantage  of 
being  nearly  free  from  leopards.  Should  sheep  succeed 
on  an  extensive  scale  the  advantage  to  the  farmer  and 
to  the  colony  would  be  mutual. 

The  depredations  of  leopards  among  cattle  are  no  in- 
considerable causes  of  loss.  At  Newera  Ellia  hardly  a 
week  passes  without  some  casualty  among  the  stock  of 
different  proprietors.  Here  the  leopards  are  particu- 
larly daring,  and  cases  have  frequently  occurred  where 
they  have  effected  their  entrance  to  a  cattle-shed  by 
scratching  a  hole  through  the  thatched  roof.  They 
then  commit  a  wholesale  slaughter  among  sheep  and 
cattle.  Sometimes,  however,  they  catch  a  "  Tartar." 
The  native  cattle  are  small,  but  very  active,  and  the 
cows  are  particularly  savage  when  the  calf  is  with 
them. 

About  three  years  ago  a  leopard  took  it  into,  his  head 
to  try  the  beefsteaks  of  a  very  savage  and  sharp-horned 
cow,  who  with  her  calf  was  the  property  of  the  black- 


96          Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

smith.  It  was  a  dark,  rainy  night,  the  blacksmith  and 
his  wife  were  in  bed,  and  the  cow  and  her  calf  were 
nestled  in  the  warm  straw  in  the  cattle-shed.  The 
door  was  locked,  and  all  was  apparently  secure,  when 
the  hungry  leopard  prowled  stealthily  round  the  cow- 
house, sniffing  the  prey  within.  The  scent  of  the 
leopard  at  once  aroused  the  keen  senses  of  the  cow, 
made  doubly  acute  by  her  anxiety  for  her  little  charge, 
and  she  stood  ready  for  the  danger  as  the  leopard,  hav- 
ing mounted  on  the  roof,  commenced  scratching  his 
way  through  the  thatch. 

Down  he  sprang ! — but  at  the  same  instant,  with  a 
splendid  charge,  the  cow  pinned  him  against  the  wall, 
and  a  battle  ensued  which  can  easily  be  imagined.  A 
coolie  slept  in  the  corner  of  the  cattle-shed,  whose 
wandering  senses  were  completely  scattered  when  he 
found  himself  the  unwilling  umpire  of  the  fight. 

He  rushed  out  and  shut  the  door.  In  a  few  minutes 
he  succeeded  in  awakening  the  blacksmith,  who  struck 
a  light  and  proceeded  to  load  a  pistol,  the  only  weapon 
that  he  possessed.  During  the  whole  of  this  time  the 
bellowing  of  the  cow,  the  roars  of  the  leopard  and  the 
thumping,  trampling  and  shuffling  which  proceeded 
from  the  cattle-shed,  explained  the  savage  nature  of  the 
fight. 

The  blacksmith,  who  was  no  sportsman,  shortly 
found  himself  with  a  lanthorn  in  one  hand,  a  pistol  in 
the  other,  and  no  idea  of  what  he  meant  to  do.  He 
waited,  therefore,  at  the  cattle-shed  door,  and  holding 
the  light  so  as  to  shine  through  the  numerous  small 
apertures  in  the  shed,  he  looked  in. 

The  leopard  no  longer  growled  ;  but  the  cow  was 
mad  with  fury.  She  alternately  threw  a  large  dark 


Leopards  and  Chetahs.  97 

mass  above  her  head,  then  quickly  pinned  it  to  the 
ground  on  its  descent,  then  bored  it  against  the  wall,  as 
it  crawled  helplessly  toward  a  corner  of  the  shed.  This 
was  the  "  beef-eater"  in  reduced  circumstances  !  The 
gallant  little  cow  had  nearly  killed  him,  and  was  giving 
him  the  finishing  strokes.  The  blacksmith  perceived 
the  leopard's  helpless  state,  and,  boldly  opening  the 
door,  he  discharged  his  pistol,  and  the  next  moment 
was  bolting  as  hard  as  he  could  run,  with  the  warlike 
cow  after  him.  She  was  regularly  "  up,"  and  was 
ready  for  anything  or  anybody.  However,  she  was  at 
length  pacified,  and  the  dying  leopard  was  put  out  of 
his  misery. 

There  are  two  distinct  species  of  the  leopard  in 
Ceylon — viz.,  the  "  chetah,"  and  the  "leopard"  or 
"  panther."  There  have  been  many  opinions  on  the 
subject,  but  I  have  taken  particular  notice  of  the  two 
animals,  and  nothing  can  be  more  clear  than  the  dis- 
tinction. 

The  "  chetah"  is  much  smaller  than  the  leopard, 
seldom  exceeding  seven  feet  from  the  nose  to  the  end 
of  the  tail.  He  is  covered  with  round  black  '•'•spots" 
of  the  size  of  a  shilling,  and  his  weight  rarely  exceeds 
ninety  pounds.  , 

The  leopard  varies  from  eight  to  nine  feet  in  length, 
and  has  been  known  to  reach  even  ten  feet.  His  body 
is  covered  with  black  "  rings"  with  a  rich  brown 
centre — his  muzzle  and  legs  are  speckled  with  black 
'•'•spots"  and  his  weight  is  from  one  hundred  and  ten 
to  one  hundred  and  seventy  pounds.  There  is  little  or 
no  distinction  between  the  leopard  and  the  panther ; 
they  are  synonymous  terms  for  a  variety  of  species  in 
different  countries.  In  Ceylon  all  leopards  are  termed 
9  G 


98          Eight  Tears1  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

"chetahs  ;"  which  proceeds  from  the  general  ignorance 
of  the  presence  of  the  two  species. 

The  power  of  a  leopard  is  wonderful  in  proportion 
to  his  weight.  I  have  seen  a  full-grown  bullock  with 
its  neck  broken  by  the  leopard  that  attacked  it.  It  is 
the  popular  belief  that  the  effect  is  produced  by  a  blow 
of  the  paw  ;  this  is  not  the  case  ;  it  is  not  simply  the 
blow,  but  it  is  the  combination  of  the  weight,  the 
power  and  the  momentum  of  the  spring  which  renders 
the  effects  of  a  leopard's  attack  so  surprising. 

Few  leopards  rush  boldly  to  the  attack  like  a  dog ; 
they  stalk  their  game  and  advance  crouchingly,  making 
use  of  every  object  that  will  afford  them  cover  until 
they  are  within  a  few  bounds  of  their  prey.  Then  the 
immense  power  of  muscle  is  displayed  in  the  concen- 
trated energy  of  the  spring ;  he  flies  through  the  air  and 
settles  on  the  throat,  usually  throwing  his  own  body 
over  the  animal,  while  his  teeth  and  claws  are  fixed  on 
the  neck  ;  this  is  the  manner  in  which  the  spine  of  an 
animal  is  broken — by  a  sudden  twist,  and  not  by  a 
blow. 

The  blow  from  the  paw  is  nevertheless  immensely 
powerful,  and  at  one  stroke  will  rip  open  a  bullock  like 
a  knife  ;  but  the  after  effects  of  the  wound  are  still  more 
to  be  dreaded  than  the  force  of  the  blow.  There  is  a 
peculiar  poison  in  the  claw  which  is  highly  dangerous. 
This  is  caused  by  the  putrid  flesh  which  they  are  con- 
stantly tearing,  and  which  is  apt  to  cause  gangrene  by 
inoculation. 

It  is  a  prevalent  idea  that  a  leopard  will  not  eat 
putrid  meat,  but  that  he  forsakes  a  rotten  carcase  and 
seeks  fresh  prey.  There  is  no  doubt  that  a  natural 
love  of  slaughter  induces  him  to  a  constant  search  for 


Boy  Devoured.  99 

prey,  but  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  daintiness  of 
his  appetite.  A  leopard  will  eat  any  stinking  offal 
that  offers,  and  I  once  had  a  melancholy  proof  of  this. 

I  was  returning  from  a  morning's  hunting  ;  it  was  a 
bitter  day  ;  the  rain  was  pouring  in  torrents,  th*e  wind 
was  blowing  a  gale  and  sweeping  the  water  in  sheets 
along  the  earth.  The  hounds  were  following  at  my 
horse's  heels,  with  their  ears  and  sterns  down,  looking 
very  miserable,  and  altogether  it  was  a  day  when  man 
and  beast  should  have  been  at  home.  Presently,  upon 
turning  a  corner  of  the  road,  I  saw  a  Malabar  boy  of 
about  sixteen  years  of  age,  squatted  shivering  by  the 
roadside.  His  only  covering  being  a  scanty  cloth  round 
his  loins,  I  told  him  to  get  up  and  go  on  or  he  would 
be  starved  with  cold.  He  said  something  in  reply, 
which  I  could  not  understand,  and,  repeating  my  first 
warning,  I  rode  on.  It  was  only  two  miles  to  my 
house,  but  upon  arrival  I  could  not  help  thinking  that 
the  boy  must  be  ill,  and  having  watched  the  gate  for 
some  time  to  see  if  he  passed  by,  I  determined  to  send 
for  him. 

Accordingly,  I  started  off  a  couple  of  men  with  orders 
to  carry  him  up  if  he  were  sick. 

They  returned  in  little  more  than  an  hour,  but  the 
poor  boy  was  dead  ! — sitting  crouched  in  the  same 
position  in  which  I  had  seen  him.  He  must  have  died 
of  cold  and  starvation ;  he  was  a  mere  skeleton, 

I  sent  men  to  the  spot,  and  had  him  buried  by  the 
roadside,  and  a  few  days  after  I  rode  down  to  see  where 
they  had  laid  him. 

A  quantity  of  fresh-turned  earth  lay  scattered  about, 
mingled  with  fragments  of  rags.  Bones  much  gnawed 
lay  here  and  there  on  the  road,  and  a  putrid  skull  h»<i 


ioo        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

rolled  from  a  shapeless  hole  among  a  confused  and 
horrible  heap.  The  leopards  had  scratched  him  up 
and  devoured  him ;  their  footprints  were  still  fresh 
upon  the  damp  ground. 

Both  leopards  and  chetahs  are  frequently  caught  at 
Newera  Ellia.  The  common  trap  is  nothing  more  or 
less  than  an  old-fashioned  mouse-trap,  with  a  falling 
door  on  a  large  scale ;  this  is  baited  with  a  live  kid  or 
sheep ;  but  the  leopard  is  naturally  so  wary  that  he 
frequently  refuses  to  enter  the  ominous-looking  build- 
ing, although  he  would  not  hesitate  to  break  into  an 
ordinary  shed.  The  best  kind  of  trap  is  a  gun  set  with 
a  line,  and  the  bait  placed  so  that  the  line  must  be 
touched  as  the  animal  advances  toward  it.  This  is 
certain  destruction  to  the  leopard,  but  it  is  extremely 
dangerous,  in  case  any  stranger  should  happen  to  be  in 
the  neighborhood  who  might  inadvertently  touch  the 
cord. 

Leopards  are  particularly  fond  of  stealing  dogs,  and 
have  frequently  taken  them  from  the  very  verandas  of 
the  houses  at  Newera  Ellia  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening. 
Two  or  three  cases  have  occurred  within  the  last  two 
years  where  they  have  actually  sprung  out  upon  dogs 
who  have  been  accompanying  their  owners  upon  the 
high  road  in  broad  daylight.  Their  destruction  should 
be  encouraged  by  a  government  reward  of  one  pound 
per  head,  in  which  case  their  number  would  be  ma- 
terially decreased  in  a  few  years. 

The  best  traps  for  chetahs  would  be  very  powerful 
vermin-gins,  made  expressly  of  great  size  and  strength, 
so  as  to  lie  one  foot  square  when  open.  Even  a  com- 
mon jackal-trap  would  hold  a  leopard,  provided  the 
chain  was  fastened  to  an  elastic  bough,  so  that  it  would 


Traps.  101 

yield  slightly  to  his  spring ;  but  if  it  were  secured  to  a 
post,  or  to  anything  that  would  enable  him  to  get  a 
dead  pull  against  it,  something  would  most  likely  give 
way.  I  have  constantly  set  these  traps  for  them,  but 
always  without  success,  as  some  other  kind  of  vermin 
is  nearly  certain  to  spring  the  trap  before  the  chetah's 
arrival.  Among  the  variety  of  small  animals  thus 
caught  I  have  frequently  taken  the  civet  cat.  This  is  a 
very  pretty  and  curious  creature,  about  forty  inches 
long  from  nose  to  tip  of  tail.  The  fur  is  ash-gray, 
mottled  with  black  spots,  and  the  tail  is  divided  by 
numerous  black  rings.  It  is  of  the  genius  Viverra, 
and  is  exceedingly  fierce  when  attacked.  It  preys 
chiefly  upon  fowls,  hares,  rats,  etc.  Its  great  peculi- 
arity is  the  musk-bag  or  gland  situated  nearly  under 
the  tail ;  this  is  a  projecting  and  valved  gland,  which 
secretes  the  musk,  and  is  used  medicinally  by  the 
Cingalese,  on  which  account  it  is  valued  at  about  six 
shillings  a  pod.  The  smell  is  very  powerful,  and  in 
my  opinion  very  offensive,  when  the  animal  is  alive  ; 
but  when  a  pod  of  musk  is  exti'acted  and  dried,  it  has 
nothing  more  than  the  well-known  scent  of  that  used 
by  perfumers.  The  latter  is  more  frequently  the  pro- 
duction of  the  musk-deer,  although  the  scent  is  pos- 
sessed by  many  animals,  and  also  insects,  as  the  musk- 
ox,  the  musk-deer,  the  civet  or  musk-cat,  the  musk-rat, 
the  musk-beetle,  etc. 

Of  these,  the  musk-rat  is  a  terrible  plague,  as  he  per- 
fumes everything  that  he  passes  over,  rendering  fruit, 
cake,  bread,  etc.,  perfectly  uneatable,  and  even  flavor- 
ing bottled  wine  by  running  over  the  bottles.  This, 
however,  requires  a  little  explanation,  although  it  is  the 
popular  belief  that  he  taints  the  wine  through  the  glass. 
9* 


102        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

The  fact  is,  he  taints  the  cork,  and  the  flavor  of  musk 
is  communicated  to  the  wine  during  the  process  of  un- 
corking the  bottle. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  rats  in  Ceylon,  from  the 
tiny  shrew  to  the  large  "  bandicoot."  This  is  a  most 
destructive  creature  in  all  gardens,  particularly  among 
potato  crops,  whole  rows  of  which  he  digs  out  and 
devours.  He  is  a  perfect  rat  in  appearance,  but  he 
would  rather  astonish  one  of  our  English  tom-cats  if 
encountered  during  his  rambles  in  search  of  rats,  as  the 
"  bandicoot"  is  about  the  same  size  as  the  cat. 

There  is  an  immense  variety  of  vermin  throughout 
Ceylon,  including  many  of  that  useful  species  the 
ichneumon,  who  in  courage  and  strength  stands  first 
of  his  tribe.  The  destruction  of  snakes  by  this  animal 
renders  him  particularly  respected,  and  no  person  ever 
thinks  of  destroying  him.  No  matter  how  venomous 
the  snake,  the  ichneumon,  or  mongoose,  goes  straight 
at  him,  and  never  gives  up  the  contest  until  the  snake 
is  vanquished. 

It  is  the  popular  belief  that  the  mongoose  eats  some 
herb  which  has  the  property  of  counteracting  the  effects 
of  a  venomous  bite ;  but  this  has  been  proved  to  be  a 
fallacy,  as  pitched  battles  have  been  witnessed  between 
a  mongoose  and  the  most  poisonous  snakes  in  a  closed 
room,  where  there  was  no  possibility  of  his  procuring 
the  antidote.  His  power  consists  in  his  vigilance  and 
activity ;  he  avoids  the  dart  of  the  snake,  and  adroitly 
pins  him  by  the  back  of  the  neck.  Here  he  maintains 
his  hold,  in  spite  of  the  contortions  and  convulsive 
writhing  of  the  snake,  until  he  succeeds  in  breaking 
the  spine.  A  mongoose  is  about  three  feet  long  from 
the  nose  to  the  tip  of  the  tail,  and  is  of  the  same  genus 


Vermin  of  Ceylon.  103 

as  the  civet  cat.  Unfortunately,  he  does  not  confine  his 
destruction  to  vermin,  but  now  and  then  pays  a  visit  to 
a  hen-roost,  and  sometimes,  poor  fellow !  he  puts  his 
foot  in  the  traps. 

Ceylon  can  produce  an  enticing  catalogue  of  attrac- 
tions, from  the  smallest  to  the  largest  of  the  enemies  to 
the  human  race — ticks,  bugs,  fleas,  tarantulas,  centi- 
pedes, scorpions,  leeches,  snakes,  lizards,  crocodiles, 
etc.,  of  which,  more  hereafter. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

"  GAME    EYES"  FOR  WILD    SPORTS — ENJOYMENTS    OF  WILD   LIFB 

CRUELTY       OF       SPORTS — NATIVE       HUNTF.RS — MOORMEN 

TRADERS — THEIR  WRETCHED  GUNS — RIFLES  AND  SMOOTH- 
BORES— HEAVY  BALLS  AND  HEAVY  METAL — BEATTIE'S 
RIFLES — BALLS  AND  PATCHES — EXPERIMENTS — THE  DOU- 
BLE-GROOVE— POWER  OF  HEAVY  METAL — CURIOUS  SHOT 
AT  A  BULL  ELEPHANT — AFRICAN  AND  CEYLON  ELEPHANTS 
STRUCTURE  OF  SKULL — LACK  OF  TROPHIES — BOAR- 
SPEARS  AND  HUNTING-KNIVES — BERTRAM — A  BOAR  HUNT 
FATAL  CUT.  , 

IN  traveling  through  Ceylon,  the  remark  is  often 
made  by  the  tourist  that  "he  sees  so  little  game." 
From  the  accounts  generally  written  of  its  birds  and 
oeasts,  a  stranger  would  naturally  expect  to  come  upon 
them  at  every  turn,  instead  of  which  it  is  a  well-known 
fact  that  one  hundred  miles  of  the  wildest  country  may 
be  traversed  without  seeing  a  single  head  of  game,  and 
the  uninitiated  might  become  skeptical  as  to  its  exist- 
ence. 

This  is  accounted  for  by  the  immense  proportion  of 
forest  and  jungle,  compared  to  the  open  country.  The 
nature  of  wild  animals  is  to  seek  cover  at  sunrise,  and 
to  come  forth  at  sunset ;  therefore  it  is  not  surprising 
that  so  few  are  casually  seen  by  the  passing  traveler. 
There  is  another  reason,  which  would  frequently  apply 
104 


"  Game  Eyes"  for  Wild  Sports.  105 

even  in  an  open  country.  Unless  the  traveler  is  well 
accustomed  to  wild  sports,  he  has  not  his  "game  eye" 
open  in  fact ;  he  either  passes  animals  without  observ- 
ing them,  or  they  see  him  and  retreat  from  view  before 
he  remarks  them. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  color  of  most  animals  is 
adapted  by  Nature  to  the  general  tint  of  the  country 
which  they  inhabit.  Thus,  having  no  contrast,  the 
animal  matches  with  surrounding  objects,  and  is  diffi- 
cult to  be  distinguished. 

It  may  appear  ridiculous  to  say  that  an  elephant  is 
very  difficult  to  be  seen  ! — he  would  be  plain  enough 
certainly  on  the  snow,  or  on  a  bright  green  meadow  in 
England,  where  the  contrasted  colors  would  make  him 
at  once  a  striking  object ;  but  in  a  dense  jungle  his 
skin  matches  so  completely  with  the  dead  sticks  and 
dry  leaves,  and  his  legs  compare  so  well  with  the  sur- 
rounding tree-stems,  that  he  is  generally  unperceived 
by  a  stranger,  even  when  pointed  out  to  him.  I  have 
actually  been  taking  aim  at  an  elephant  within  seven 
or  eight  paces,  when  he  has  been  perfectly  unseen  by  a 
friend  at  my  elbow,  who  was  peering  through  the 
bushes  in  quest  of  him. 

Quickness  of  eye  is  an  indispensable  quality  in 
sp6rtsmen,  the  possession  of  which  constitutes  one  of 
their  little  vanities.  Nothing  is  so  conducive  to  the 
perfection  of  all  the  senses  as  the  constant  practice  in 
wild  and  dangerous  sports.  The  eye  and  the  ear  be- 
come habituated  to  watchfulness,  and  their  powers  are 
increased  in  the  same  proportion  as  the  muscles  of  the 
body  are  by  exercise.  Not  only  is  an  animal  imme- 
diately observed,  but  anything  out  of  the  common 
among  surrounding  objects  instantly  strikes  the  atten- 


106        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

tion  ;  the  waving  of  one  bough  in  particular  when  all 
are  moving  in  the  breeze  ;  the  twitching  of  a  deer's  ear 
above  the  long  grass ;  the  slight  rustling  of  an  animal 
moving  in  the  jungle.  The  senses  are  regularly  tuned 
up,  and  the  limbs  are  in  the  same  condition  from  con- 
tinual exercise. 

There  is  a  peculiar  delight,  which  passes  all  descrip- 
tion, in  feeling  thoroughly  well-strung,  mentally  and 
physically,  with  a  good  rifle  in  your  hand  and  a  trusty 
gun-bearer  behind  you  with  another,  thus  stalking 
quietly  through  a  fine  country,  on  the  look-out  for  "any- 
thing" no  matter  what.  There  is  a  delightful  feeling 
of  calm  excitement,  if  I  might  so  express  it,  which 
nothing  but  wild  sports  will  give.  There  is  no  time 
when  a  man  knows  himself  so  thoroughly  as  when  he 
depends  upon  himself,  and  this  forms  his  excitement. 
With  a  thorough  confidence  in  the  rifle  and  a  bright 
lookout,  he  stalks  noiselessly  along  the  open  glades, 
picking  out  the  softest  places,  avoiding  the  loose  stones 
or  anything  that  would  betray  his  steps  ;  now  piercing 
the  deep  shadows  of  the  jungles,  now  scanning  the 
distant  plains,  nor  leaving  a  nook  or  hollow  unsearched 
by  his  vigilant  gaze.  The  fresh  breakage  of  a  branch, 
the  barking  of  a  tree-stem,  the  lately  nibbled  grass, 
with  the  sap  still  oozing  from  the  delicate  blade,  the 
disturbed  surface  of  a  pool ;  everything  is  noted,  even 
to  the  alarmed  chatter  of  a  bird :  nothing  is  passed  un- 
heeded by  an  experienced  hunter. 

To  quiet,  steady-going  people  in  England  there  is  an 
idea  of  cruelty  inseparable  from  the  pursuit  of  large 
game;  people  talk  of  "unoffending  elephants,"  "poor 
buffaloes,"  "pretty  deer,"  and  a  variety  of  nonsense 
about  things  which  they  cannot  possibly  understand. 


Cruelty  of  Sports.  107 

Besides,  the  very  person  who  abuses  wild  sports  on  the 
plea  of  cruelty  indulges  personally  in  conventional 
cruelties  which  are  positive  tortures.  His  appetite  is 
not  destroyed  by  the  knowledge  that  his  cook  has 
skinned  the  eels  alive,  or  that  the  lobsters  were  plunged 
into  boiling  water  to  be  cooked.  He  should  remember 
that  a  small  animal  has  the  same  feeling  as  the  largest, 
and  if  he  condemns  any  sport  as  cruel,  he  must  con- 
demn all. 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  a  certain  amount  of 
cruelty  pervades  all  sports.  But  in  "  wild  sports"  the 
animals  are  for  the  most  part  large,  dangerous  and  mis- 
chievous, and  they  are  pursued  and  killed  in  the  most 
speedy,  and  therefore  in  the  most  merciful,  manner. 

The  government  reward  for  the  destruction  of  ele- 
phants in  Ceylon  was  formerly  ten  shillings  per  tail ;  it 
is  now  reduced  to  seven  shillings  in  some  districts,  and 
is  altogether  abolished  in  others,  as  the  number  killed 
was  so  great  that  the  government  imagined  they  could 
not  afford  the  annual  outlay. 

Although  the  number  of  these  animals  is  still  so  im- 
mense in  Ceylon,  they  must  nevertheless  have  been 
much  reduced  within  the  last  twenty  years.  In  those 
days  the  country  was  overrun  with  them,  and  some 
idea  of  their  numbers  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  three  first-rate  shots  in  three  days  bagged  one  hun- 
dred and  four  elephants.  This  was  told  to  me  by  one 
of  the  parties  concerned,  and  it  throws  our  modern 
shooting  into  the  shade.  In  those  days,  however,  the 
elephants  were  comparatively  undisturbed,  and  they 
were  accordingly  more  easy  to  approach.  One  of  the 
oldest  native  hunters  has  assured  me  that  he  has  seen 
the  elephants,  when  attacked,  recklessly  expose  them- 


io8        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

selves  to  the  shots  and  endeavor  to  raise  their  dead 
comrades.  This  was  at  a  time  when  guns  were  first 
heard  in  the  interior  of  Ceylon,  and  the  animals  had 
never  been  shot  at.  Since  that  time  the  decrease  in  the 
game  of  Ceylon  has  been  immense.  Every  year  in- 
creases the  number  of  guns  in  the  possession  of  the 
natives,  and  accordingly  diminishes  the  number  of 
animals.  From  the  change  which  has  come  over 
many  parts  of  the  country  within  my  experience  of  the 
last  eight  years,  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  next  ten  years 
will  see  the  deer-shooting  in  Ceylon  completely  spoiled, 
and  the  elephants  very  much  reduced.  There  are  now 
very  few  herds  of  elephants  in  Ceylon  that  have  not 
been  shot  at  by  either  Europeans  or  natives,  and  it  is  a 
common  occurrence  to  kill  elephants  with  numerous 
marks  of  old  bullet  wounds.  Thus  the  animals  are 
constantly  on  the  "  qui  vive"  and  at  the  report  of  a 
gun  every  herd  within  hearing  starts  off  for  the  densest 
jungles. 

A  native  can  now  obtain  a  gun  for  thirty  shillings ; 
and  with  two  shillings'  worth  of  ammunition,  he  starts 
on  a  hunting  trip.  Five  elephants,  at  a  reward  of  seven 
shillings  per  tail,  more  than  pay  the  prime  cost  of  his 
gun,  to  say  nothing  of  the  deer  and  other  game  that  he 
has  bagged  in  the  interim. 

Some,  although  very  few,  of  the  natives  are  good 
sportsmen  in  a  potting"  way.  They  get  close  to  their 
game,  and  usually  bag  it.  This  is  a  terrible  system  for 
destroying,  and  the  more  so  as  it  is  unceasing.  There 
is  no  rest  for  the  animals ;  in  the  day-time  they  are 
tracked  up,  and  on  moonlight  nights  the  drinking- 
places  are  watched,  and  an  unremitting  warfare  is 
carried  on.  This  is  sweeping  both  deer  and  buffalo 


Native  Hunters.  109 

from  the  country,  and  must  eventually  almost  annihilate 
them. 

The  Moormen  are  the  best  hunters,  and  they  combine 
sport  with  trade  in  such  a  manner  that  "  all  is  fish  that 
comes  to  their  net."  Five  or  six  good  hunters  start 
with  twenty  or  thirty  bullocks  and  packs.  Some  of 
these  are  loaded  with  common  cloths,  etc.,  to  exchange 
with  the  village  people  for  dried  venison  ;  but  the  inten- 
tion in  taking  so  many  bullocks  is  to  bring  home  the 
spoils  of  their  hunting  trip — in  fact,  to  "carry  the  bag." 
They  take  about  a  dozen  leaves  of  the  talipot  palm  to 
form  a  tent,  and  at  night-time,  the  packs,  being  taken 
off  the  bullocks,  are  piled  like  a  pillar  in  the  centre, 
and  the  talipot  leaves  are  formed  in  a  circular  roof 
above  them.  The  bullocks  are  then  secured  round  the 
tent  to  long  poles,  which  are  thrown  upon  the  ground 
and  pinned  down  by  crooked  pegs. 

These  people  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
country,  and  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  habits 
of  the  animals  and  the  most  likely  spots  for  game. 
Buffaloes,  pigs  and  deer  are  indiscriminately  shot,  and 
the  flesh  being  cut  in  strips  from  the  bones  is  smoked 
over  a  green-wood  fire,  then  thoroughly  dried  in  the 
sun  and  packed  up  for  sale.  The  deer  skins  are  also 
carefully  dried  and  rolled  up,  and  the  buffaloes'  and 
deer  horns  are  slung  to  the  packs. 

Many  castes  of  natives  will  not  eat  buffalo  meat, 
others  will  not  eat  pork,  but  all  are  particularly  fond 
of  venison.  This  the  Moorman  fully  understands,  and 
overcomes  all  scruples  by  a  general  mixture  of  the 
different  meats,  all  of  which  he  sells  as  venison.  Thus 
no  animal  is  spared  whose  flesh  can  be  passed  off  for 
deer.  Fortunately,  their  guns  are  so  common  that 
10 


no        Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

they  will  not  shoot  with  accuracy  beyond  ten  or  fifteen 
paces,  or  there  would  be  no  game  left  within  a  few 
years.  How  these  common  guns  stand  the  heavy 
charges  of  powder  is  a  puzzle.  A  native  thinks 
nothing  of  putting  four  drachms  down  a  gun  that  I 
should  be  sorry  to  fire  off  at  any  rate.  It  is  this  heavy 
charge  which  enables  such  tools  to  kill  elephants 
which  would  otherwise  be  impossible.  These  natives 
look  upon  a  first-class  English  rifle  with  a  sort  of  vene- 
ration. Such  a  weapon  would  be  a  perfect  fortune  to 
one  of  these  people,  and  I  have  often  been  astonished 
that  robberies  of  such  things  are  not  more  frequent. 

There  is  much  difference  of  opinion  among  Ceylon 
sportsmen  as  to  the  style  of  gun  for  elephant-shooting. 
But  there  is  one  point  upon  which  all  are  agreed,  that 
no  matter  what  the  size  of  the  bore  may  be,  all  the 
guns  should  be  alike,  and  the  battery  for  one  man 
should  consist  of  four  double-barrels.  The  confusion 
in  hurried  loading  where  guns  are  of  different  calibres 
is  beyond  conception. 

The  size  and  the  weight  of  guns  must  depend  as 
much  on  the  strength  and  build  of  a  man  as  a  ship's 
armament  does  upon  her  tonnage ;  but  let  no  man 
speak  against  heavy  metal  for  heavy  game,  and  let  no 
man  decry  rifles  and  uphold  smooth-bores  (which  is 
very  general),  but  rather  let  him  say,  "I  cannot  carry 
a  heavy  gun"  and  "I  cannot  shoot  with  a  rifle" 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  shooting  at  a 
target  and  shooting  at  live  game.  Many  men  who  are . 
capital  shots  at  target-practice  cannot  touch  a  deer,  and 
cannot  even  use  the  rifle  as  a  rifle  at  live  game,  but 
actually  knock  the  sights  out  and  use  it  as  a  smooth- 
bore. This  is  not  the  fault  of  the  weapon  ;  it  is  the 


Rifles  and  Smooth-Sores.  in 

fault  of  the  man.  It  is  a  common  saying  in  Ceylon, 
and  also  in  India,  that  you  cannot  shoot  quick  enough 
with  the  rifle,  because  you  cannot  get  the  proper  sight 
in  an  instant. 

Whoever  makes  use  of  this  argument  must  certainly 
be  in  the  habit  of  very  random  shooting  with  a  smooth- 
bore. How  can  he  possibly  get  a  correct  aim  with 
"  ball,"  even  out  of  a  smooth-bore,  without  squinting 
along  the  barrel  and  taking  the  muzzle-sight  accurately? 
The  fact  is,  that  many  pei-sons  fire  so  hastily  at  game 
that  they  take  no  sight  at  all,  as  though  they  were 
snipe-shooting  with  many  hundred  grains  of  shot  in  the 
charge.  This  will  never  do  for  ball-practice,  and  when 
the  rifle  is  placed  in  such  hands,  the  breech-sights 
naturally  bother  the  eye  which  is  not  accustomed  to 
recognize  any  sight ;  and  while  the  person  is  vainly  en- 
deavoring to  get  the  sight  correctly  on  a  moving  object, 
the  animal  is  increasing  his  distance.  By  way  of 
cutting  the  Gordian  knot,  he  therefore  knocks  his  sight 
out,  and  accordingly  spoils  the  shooting  of  the  rifle 
altogether. 

Put  a  rifle  in  the  hands  of  a  man  who  knows  how  to 
handle  it,  and  let  him  shoot  against  the  mutilated 
weapon  deprived  of  its  sight,  and  laugh  at  the  trial. 
Why,  a  man  might  as  well  take  the  rudder  off  a  ship 
because  he  could  not  steer,  and  then  abuse  the  vessel 
for  not  keeping  her  course  ! 

My  idea  of  guns  and  rifles  is  this,  that  the  former 
should  be  used  for  what  their  makers  intended  them, 
viz.,  shot-shooting,  and  that  no  ball  should  be  fired  from 
any  but  the  rifle.  Of  course  it  is  just  as  easy  and  as 
certain  to  kill  an  elephant  with  a  smooth-bore  as  with 
a  rifle,  as  he  is  seldom  fired  at  until  within  ten  or 


112        Eight  Tears1   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

twelve  paces ;  but  a  man,  when  armed  for  wild  sport, 
should  be  provided  with  a  weapon  which  is  fit  for  any 
kind  of  ball-shooting  at  any  reasonable  range,  and  his 
battery  should  be  perfect  for  the  distance  at  which  he  is 
supposed  to  aim. 

I  have  never  seen  any  rifles  which  combine  the  requi- 
sites for  Ceylon  shooting  to  such  a  degree  as  my  four 
double-barreled  No.  10,  which  I  had  made  to  order. 
Then  some  persons  exclaim  against  their  weight,  which 
is  fifteen  pounds  per  gun.  But  a  word  upon  that 
subject. 

No  person  who  understands  anything  about  a  rifle 
would  select  a  light  gun  with  a  large  bore,  any  more 
than  he  would  have  a  heavy  carriage  for  a  small  horse. 
If  the  man  objects  to  the  weight  of  the  rifle,  let  him 
content  himself  with  a  smaller  bore,  but  do  not  rob  the 
barrels  of  their  good  metal  for  the  sake  of  a  heavy  ball. 
The  more  metal  that  the  barrel  possesses  in  proportion 
to  the  diameter  of  the  bore,  the  better  will  the  rifle 
carry,  nine  times  out  of  ten.  Observe  the  Swiss  rifles 
for  accurate  target-practice — again,  remark  the  Ameri- 
can pea  rifle  ;  in  both  the  thickness  of  metal  is  immense 
in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  ball,  which,  in  great 
measure,  accounts  for  the  precision  with  which  they 
carry. 

In  a  light  barrel,  there  is  a  vibration  or  jar  at  the 
time  of  explosion,  which  takes  a  certain  effect  upon  the 
direction  of  the  ball.  This  is  necessarily  increased  by 
the  use  of  a  heavy  charge  of  powder ;  and  it  is  fre- 
quently seen  that  a  rifle  which  carries  accurately  enough 
with  a  very  small  charge,  shoots  wide  of  the  mark 
when  the  charge  is  increased.  This  arises  from  several 
causes,  generally  from  the  jar  of  the  barrel  in  the  stock, 


Heavy  Balls  and  Heavy  Metal.  113 

proceeding  either  from  the  want  of  metal  in  the  rifle 
or  from  improper  workmanship  in  the  fittings. 

To  avoid  this,  a  rifle  should  be  made  with  double 
bolts,  and  a  silver  plate  should  always  be  let  into  the 
stock  under  the  breech  ;  without  which  the  woodwork 
will  imperceptibly  wear,  and  the  barrel  will  become 
loose  in  the  stock  and  jar  when  fired. 

There  is  another  reason  for  the  necessity  of  heavy 
barrels,  especially  for  two-grooved  rifles.  Unless  the 
grooves  be  tolerably  deep,  they  will  not  hold  the  ball 
when  a  heavy  charge  is  behind  it ;  it  quits  the  grooves, 
strips  its  belt,  and  flies  out  as  though  fired  from  a 
smooth-bore. 

A 'large-bore  rifle  is  a  useless  incumbrance,  unless 
it  is  so  constructed  that  it  will  bear  a  proportionate 
charge  of  powder,  and  shoot  as  accurately  with  its 
proof  charge  as  with  a  single  drachm.  The  object  in 
having  a  large  bore  is  to  possess  an  extra  powerful 
weapon,  therefore  the  charge  of  powder  must  be  in- 
creased in  proportion  to  the  weight  of  the  ball,  or  the 
extra  power  is  not  obtained.  Nevertheless,  most  of 
the  heavy  rifles  that  I  have  met  with  will  not  carry  an 
adequate  charge  of  powder,  and  they  are  accordingly 
no  more  powerful  than  guns  of  lighter  bore  which 
carry  their  proportionate  charge — the  powder  has  more 
than  its  fair  amount  of  work. 

Great  care  should  be  therefore  taken  in  making  rifles 
for  heavy  game.  There  cannot  be  a  better  calibre  than 
No.  10 ;  it  is  large  enough  for  any  animal  in  the  world, 
and  a  double-barreled  rifle  of  this  bore,  without  a  ram- 
rod, is  not  the  least  cumbersome,  even  at  the  weight  of 
fifteen  pounds.  A  ramrod  is  not  required  to  be  in  the 
gun  for  Ceylon  shooting,  as  there  is  always  a  man 
10*  H 


H4        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

behind  with  a  spare  rifle,  who  carries  a  loading  rod  ; 
and  were  a  ramrod  fitted  to  a  rifle  of  this  size,  it  would 
render  it  very  unhandy,  and  would  also  weaken  the 
stock. 

The  sights  should  be  of  platinum  at  the  muzzle,  and 
blue  steel,  with  a  platinum  strip  with  a  broad  and  deep 
letter  V  cut  in  the  breech-sights.  In  a  gloomy  forest 
it  is  frequently  difficult  to  catch  the  muzzle  sight,  un- 
less it  is  of  some  bright  metal,  such  as  silver  or  plati- 
num ;  and  a  broad  cut  in  the  breech-sights,  if  shaped  as 
described,  allows  a  rapid  aim,  and  may  be  taken  fine 
or  coarse  at  option. 

The  charge  of  powder  must  necessarily  depend  upon 
its  strength.  For  elephant-shooting,  I  always  use  six 
drachms  of  the  best  powder  for  the  No.  10  rifles,  and 
four  drachms  as  the  minimum  charge  for  deer  and 
general  shooting  ;  the  larger  charge  is  then  unnecessary  ; 
it  both  wastes  ammunition  and  alarms  the  country  by 
the  loudness  of  the  report. 

There  are  several  minutiae  to  be  attended  to  in  the 
sports  of  Ceylon.  The  caps  should  always  be  carried 
in  a  shot-charger  (one  of  the  common  spring-lid 
chargers)  and  never  be  kept  loose  in  the  pocket.  The 
heat  is  so  intense  that  the  perspiration  soaks  through 
everything,  and  so  injures  the  caps  that  the  very  best 
will  frequently  miss  fire. 

The  powder  should  be  dried  for  a  few  minutes  in  the 
sun  before  it  is  put  into  the  flask,  and  it  should  be  well 
shaken  and  stirred  to  break  any  lumps  that  may  be  in 
it.  One  of  these,  by  obstructing  the  passage  in  the 
flask,  may  cause  much  trouble  in  loading  quickly, 
especially  when  a  wounded  elephant  is  regaining  his 
feet.  In  such  a  case  you  must  keep  your  eyes  on  the 


Necessary  Precautions.  115 

animal  while  loading,  and  should  the  passage  of  the 
powder-flask  be  stopped  by  a  lump,  you  may  fancy  the 
gun  is  loaded  when  in  fact  not  a  grain  of  powder  has 
entered  it. 

The  patches  should  be  of  silk,  soaked  in  a  mixture 
of  one  part  of  beeswax  and  two  of  fresh  hog's  lard, 
free  from  salt.  If  they  are  spread  with  pure  grease,  it 
melts  out  of  them  in  a  hot  country,  and  they  become 
dry.  Silk  is  better  than  linen  as  it  is  not  so  liable  to 
be  cut  by  the  sharp  grooves  of  the  rifle.  It  is  also 
thinner  than  linen  or  calico,  and  the  ball  is  therefore 
more  easily  rammed  down. 

All  balls  should  be  made  of  pure  lead,  without  any 
hardening  mixture.  It  was  formerly  the  fashion  to  use 
zinc  balls,  and  lead  with  a  mixture  of  tin,  etc.,  in  ele- 
phant-shooting. This  was  not  only  unnecessary,  but 
the  balls,  from  a  loss  of  weight  by  admixture  with 
lighter  metals,  lost  force  in  a  proportionate  degree. 
Lead  may  be  a  soft  metal,  but  it  is  much  harder  than 
any  animal's  skull,  and  if  a  tallow  candle  can  be  shot 
through  a  deal  board,  surely  a  leaden  bullet  is  hard 
enough  for  an  elephant's  head. 

I  once  tried  a  very  conclusive  experiment  on  the 
power  of  balls  of  various  metals  propelled  by  an  equal 
charge  of  powder. 

I  had  a  piece  of  wrought  iron  five-eights  of  an  inch 
thick,  and  six  feet  high  by  two  in  breadth.  I  fired  at 
this  at  one  hundred  and  seventy  yards  with  my  two- 
grooved  four-ounce  rifle,  with  a  reduced  charge  of  six 
drachms  of  powder  and  a  ball  of  pure  lead.  It  bulged 
the  iron  like  a  piece  of  putty,  and  split  the  centre  of 
the  bulged  spot  into  a  star,  through  the  crevice  of  which 
I  could  pass  a  pen-blade. 


Il6        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  tn  Ceylon. 

A  ball  composed  of  half  zinc  and  half  lead,  fired 
from  the  same  distance,  hardly  produced  a  perceptible 
effect  upon  the  iron  target.  It  just  slightly  indented  it. 

I  then  tried  a  ball  of  one-third  zinc  and  two-thirds 
lead,  but  there  was  no  perceptible  difference  in  the 
effect. 

I  subsequently  tried  a  tin  ball,  and  again  a  zinc  ball, 
but  neither  of  them  produced  any  other  effect  than 
slightly  to  indent  the  iron. 

I  tried  all  these  experiments  again  at  fifty  yards' 
range,  with  the  same  advantage  in  favor  of  the  pure 
lead  ;  and  at  this  reduced  distance  a  double-barreled 
No.  1 6  smooth-bore,  with  a  large  charge  of  four 
drachms  of  powder  and  a  lead  ball,  also  bulged  and 
split  the  iron  into  a  star.  This  gun,  with  a  hard  tin 
ball  and  the  same  charge  of  powder,  did  not  produce 
any  other  effect  than  an  almost  imperceptible  indenta- 
tion. 

If  a  person  wishes  to  harden  a  ball  for  any  purpose, 
it  should  be  done  by  an  admixture  of  quicksilver  to  the 
lead  while  the  latter  is  in  a  state  of  fusion,  a  few  sec- 
onds before  the  ball  is  cast.  The  mixture  must  be  then 
quickly  stirred  with  an  iron  rod,  and  formed  into  the 
moulds  without  loss  of  time,  as  at  this  high  tempera- 
ture the  quicksilver  will  evaporate.  Quicksilver  is 
heavier  than  lead,  and  makes  a  ball  excessively  hard  ; 
so  much  so  that  it  would  very  soon  spoil  a  rifle.  Al- 
together, the  hardening  of  a  ball  has  been  shown  to  be 
perfectly  unnecessary,  and  the  latter  receipt  would  be 
found  very  expensive. 

If  a  wonderful  effect  is  required,  the  steel-tipped 
conical  ball  should  be  used.  I  once  shot  through  four- 
teen elm  planks,  each  one  inch  thick,  with  a  four-ounce 


The  Double -Groove.  117 

steel-tipped  cone,  with  the  small  charge  (for  that  rifle) 
of  four  drachms  of  powder.  The  proper  charge  for 
that  gun  is  one-fourth  the  weight  of  the  ball,  or  one 
ounce  of  powder,  with  which  it  carries  with  great 
nicety  and  terrific  effect,  owing  to  its  great  weight  of 
metal  (twenty-one  pounds)  ;  but  it  is  a  small  piece  of 
artillery,  which  tries  the  shoulder  very  severely  in  the 
recoil. 

I  have  frequently  watched  a  party  of  soldiers  wind- 
ing along  a  pass,  with  their  white  trousers,  red  coats, 
white  cross-belts  and  brass  plates,  at  about  four  hun- 
dred yards,  and  thought  what  a  raking  that  rifle  would 
give  a  body  of  troops  in  such  colors  Tor  a  mark.  A 
ball  of  that  weight,  with  an  ounce  of  powder,  would 
knock  down  six  or  eight  men  in  a  row.  A  dozen  of 
such  weapons  well  handled  on  board  a  ship  would 
create  an  astonishing  effect ;  but  for  most  purposes  the 
weight  of  the  ammunition  is  a  serious  objection. 

There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  among  sports- 
men regarding  the  grooves  of  a  rifle  ;  some  prefer  the 
two-groove  and  belted  ball ;  others  give  preference  to 
the  eight  or  twelve-groove  and  smooth-bore.  There 
are  good  arguments  on  both  sides. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  two-groove  is  the  hardest 
hitter  and  the  longest  ranger ;  it  also  has  the  advantage 
of  not  fouling  so  quickly  as  the  many-grooved.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  many-grooved  is  much  easier  to 
load ;  it  hits  quite  hard  enough  ;  and  it  ranges  truly 
much  farther  than  any  person  would  think  of  firing  at 
an  animal.  Therefore,  for  sporting  purposes,  the  only 
advantage  which  the  two-groove  possesses  is  the  keep- 
ing clean,  while  the  many-groove  claims  the  advantage 
of  quick  loading. 


n8        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

The  latter  is  by  far  the  more  important  recommenda- 
tion, especially  as  the  many-groove  can  be  loaded  with- 
out the  assistance  of  the  eye,  as  the  ball,  being  smooth 
and  round,  can  only  follow  the  right  road  down  the 
barrel.  The  two-grooved  rifle,  when  new,  is  particu- 
larly difficult  to  load,  as  the  ball  must  be  tight  to  avoid 
windage,  and  it  requires  some  nicety  in  fitting  and 
pressing  the  belt  of  the  ball  into  the  groove,  in  such  a 
manner  that  it  shall  start  straight  upon  the  pressure  of 
the  loading-rod.  If  it  gives  a  slight  heel  to  one  side  at 
the  commencement,  it  is  certain  to  stick  in  its  course, 
and  it  then  occupies  much  time  and  trouble  in  being 
rammed  home.  Neither  will  it  shoot  with  accuracy, 
as,  from  the  amount  of  ramming  to  get  the  ball  to  its 
place,  it  has  become  so  misshapen  that  it  is  a  mere 
lump  of  lead,  and  no  longer  a  rifle-ball. 

My  double-barreled  No.  10  rifles  are  two-grooved, 
and  an  infinity  of  trouble  they  gave  me  for  the  first  two 
years.  Many  a  time  I  have  been  giving  my  whole 
weight  to  the  loading  rod,  with  a  ball  stuck  half-way 
down  the  barrel,  while  wounded  elephants  lay  strug- 
gling upon  the  ground,  expected  every  moment  to  rise. 
From  constant  use  and  repeated  cleaning  they  have  now 
become  so  perfect  that  they  load  with  the  greatest  ease  ; 
but  guns  of  their  age  are  not  fair  samples  of  their  class, 
and  for  rifles  in  general  for  sporting  purposes  I  should 
give  a  decided  preference  to  the  many-groove.  I  have 
had  a  long  two-ounce  rifle  of  the  latter  class,  which  I 
have  shot  with  for  many  years,  and  it  certainly  is  not 
so  hard  a  hitter  as  the  two-grooved  No.  ID'S  ;  but  it  hits 
uncommonly  hard,  too ;  and  if  I  do  not  bag  with  it,  it 
is  always  my  fault,  and  no  blame  can  be  attached  to 
the  rifle. 


Power  of  Heavy  Metal.  119 

For  heavy  game-shooting,  I  do  not  think  there  can 
be  a  much  fairer  standard  for  the  charge  of  powdei 
than  one-fifth  the  weight  of  the  ball  for  all  bores. 
Some  persons  do  not  use  so  much  as  this ;  but  I  am 
always  an  advocate  for  strong  guns  and  plenty  of 
powder. 

A  heavy  charge  will  reach  the  brain  of  an  elephant, 
no  matter  in  what  position  he  may  stand,  provided  a 
proper  angle  is  taken  for  attaining  it.  A  trifling 
amount  of  powder  is  sufficient,  if  the  elephant  offers  a 
front  shot,  or  the  temple  at  right  angles,  or  the  ear 
shot ;  but  if  a  man  pretend  to  a  knowledge  of  elephant- 
shooting,  he  should  think  of  nothing  but  the  brain,  and- 
his  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  the  elephant's  head 
should  be  such  that  he  can  direct  a  straight  line  to  this 
mark  from  any  position.  He  then  requires  a  rifle  of 
such  power  that  the  ball  will  crash  through  every 
obstacle  along  the  course  directed.  To  effect  this  he 
must  not  be  stingy  of  the  powder. 

I  have  frequently  killed  elephants  by  curious  shots 
with  the  heavy  rifles  in  this  manner ;  but  I  once  killed 
a  bull  elephant  by  one  shot  in  the  upper  jaw,  which 
will  at  once  exemplify  the  advantage  of  a  powerful  rifle 
in  taking  the  angle  for  the  brain. 

My  friend  Palliser  and  I  were  out  shooting  on  the 
day  previous,  and  we  had  spent  some  hours  in  vainly 
endeavoring  to  track  up  a  single  bull  elephant.  I  for- 
get what  we  bagged,  but  I  recollect  well  that  we  were 
unlucky  in  finding  our  legitimate  game.  That  night  at 
dinner  we  heard  elephants  roaring  in  the  Yalle  river, 
upon  the  banks  of  which  our  tent  was  pitched  in  fine 
open  forest.  For  about  an  hour  the  roaring  was  con- 
tinued, apparently  on  both  sides  the  river,  and  we  im- 


I2O        Eight  Dears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

mediately  surmised  that  our  gentleman  friend  on  our 
side  of  the  stream  was  answering  the  call  of  the  ladies 
of  some  herd  on  the  opposite  bank.  We  went  to  sleep 
with  the  intention  of  waking  at  dawn  of  day,  and  then 
strolling  quietly  along  with  .only  two  gun-bearers  each, 
who  were  to  carry  my  four  double  No  ID'S,  while  we 
each  carried  a  single  barrel  for  deer. 

The  earliest  gray  tint  of  morning  saw  us  dressed  and 
ready,  the  rifles  loaded,  a  preliminary  cup  of  hot 
chocolate  swallowed,  and  we  were  off  while  the  forest 
was  still  gloomy  ;  the  night  seemed  to  hang  about  it, 
although  the  sky  was  rapidly  clearing  above. 

A  noble  piece  of  Nature's  handiwork  is  that  same 
Yalle1  forest.  The  river  flows  sluggishly  through  its 
centre  in  a  breadth  of  perhaps  ninety  yards,  and  the  im- 
mense forest  trees  extend  their  giant  arms  from  the  high 
banks  above  the  stream,  throwing  dark  shadows  upon 
its  surface,  enlivened  by  the  silvery  glitter  of  the  fish  as 
they  dart  against  the  current.  Little  glades  of  rank 
grass  occasionally  break  the  monotony  of  the  dark 
forest ;  sandy  gullies  in  deep  beds  formed  by  the  tor- 
rents of  the  rainy  season  cut  through  the  crumbling 
soil  and  drain  toward  the  river.  Thick  brushwood 
now  and  then  forms  an  opposing  barrier,  but  generally 
the  forest  is  beautifully  open,  consisting  of  towering 
trees,  the  leviathans  of  their  race,  sheltering  the  scanty 
saplings  which  have  sprung  from  their  fallen  seeds. 
For  a  few  hundred  yards  on  either  side  of  the  river  the 
forest  extends  in  a  ribbon-like  strip  of  lofty  vegetation 
in  the  surrounding  sea  of  low  scrubby  jungle.  The 
animals  leave  the  low  jungle  at  night,  passing  through 
the  forest  on  their  way  to  the  river  to  bathe  and  drink  ; 
they  return  to  the  low  and  thick  jungle  at  break  of  day, 


Curious  Shot  at  a  Bull  Elephant.          121 

and  we  hoped  to  meet  some  of  the  satiated  elephants  on 
their  way  to  their  dense  habitations. 

We  almost  made  sure  of  finding  our  friend  of  yester- 
day's track,  and  we  accordingly  kept  close  to  the  edge 
of  the  river,  keeping  a  sharp  eye  for  tracks  upon  the 
sandy  bed  below. 

We  had  strolled  for  about  a  mile  along  the  high  bank 
of  the  river  without  seeing  a  sign  of  an  elephant,  when 
I  presently  heard  a  rustle  in  the  branches  before  me, 
and  upon  looking  up  I  saw  a  lot  of  monkeys  gamboling 
in  the  trees.  I  was  carrying  my  long  two-ounce  rifle, 
and  I  was  passing  beneath  the  monkey-covered  boughs, 
when  I  suddenly  observed  a  young  tree  of  the  thickness 
of  a  man's  thigh  shaking  violently  just  before  me. 

It  happened  that  the  jungle  was  a  little  thicker  in 
this  spot,  and  at  the  same  moment  that  I  observed  the 
tree  shaking  almost  over  me,  I  passed  the  immense 
stem  of  one  of  those  smooth-barked  trees  which  grow 
to  such  an  enormous  size  on  the  banks  of  rivers.  At 
the  same  moment  that  I  passed  it  I  was  almost  under 
the  trunk  of  a  single  bull  elephant,  who  was  barking 
the  stem  with  his  tusk  as  high  as  he  could  reach,  with 
his  head  thrown  back.  I  saw  in  an  instant  that  the 
only  road  to  his  brain  lay  through  his  upper  jaw,  in  the 
position  in  which  he  was  standing ;  and  knowing  that 
he  would  discover  me  in  another  moment,  I  took  the 
eccentric  line  for  his  brain,  and  fired  upward  through 
his  jaw.  He  fell  stone  dead,  with  the  silk  patch  of  the 
rifle  smoking  in  the  wound. 

Now  in  this  position  no  light  gun  could  have  killed 

that  elephant ;  the  ball  had  to  pass  through  the  roots 

of  the  upper  grinders,  and  keep  its  course  through  hard 

bones  and  tough  membranes  for  about  two  feet  before 

11 


122        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

it  could  reach  the  brain  ;  but  the  line  was  all  right,  and 
the  heavy  metal  and  charge  of  powder  kept  the  ball  to 
its  work. 

This  is  the  power  which  every  elephant-gun  should 
possess :  it  should  have  an  elephant's  head  under  com- 
plete command  in  every  attitude. 

There  is  another  advantage  in  heavy  metal ;  a  heavy 
ball  will  frequently  stun  a  vicious  elephant  when  in  full 
charge,  when  a  light  ball  would  not  check  him  ;  his 
quietus  is  then  soon  arranged  by  another  barrel.  Some 
persons,  however,  place  too  much  confidence  in  the 
weight  of  the  metal,  and  forget  that  it  is  necessary  to 
hold  a  powerful  rifle  as  straight  as  the  smallest  gun. 
It  is  then  very  common  during  a  chase  of  a  herd  to  see 
the  elephants  falling  tolerably  well  to  the  shots,  but 
on  a  return  for  their  tails,  it  is  found  that  the  stunned 
brutes  have  recovered  and  decamped. 

Conical  balls  should  never  be  used  for  elephants  ; 
they  are  more  apt  to  glance,  and  the  concussion  is  not 
so  great  as  that  produced  by  a  round  ball.  In  fact  there 
is  nothing  more  perfect  for  sporting  purposes  than  a 
good  rifle  from  a  first-rate  maker,  with  a  plain  ball  of 
from  No.  12  to  No.  10.  There  can  be  no  improvement 
upon  such  a  weapon  for  the  range  generally  required 
by  a  good  shot. 

I  am  very  confident  that  the  African  elephant  would 
be  killed  by  the  brain-shot  by  Ceylon  sportsmen  with  as 
much  ease  as  the  Indian- species.  The  shape  of  the 
head  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  the  shooting, 
provided  the  guns  are  powerful  and  the  hunter  knows 
where  the  brain  lies. 

When  I  arrived  in  Ceylon  one  of  my  first  visits  was 
to  the  museum  at  Colombo.  Here  I  carefully  examined 


Structure  of  Skull.  12^ 

the  transverse  sections  of  an  elephant's  skull,  until  per- 
fectly acquainted  with  its  details.  From  the  museum  I 
went  straight  to  the  elephant-stables  and  thoroughly 
examined  the  head  of  the  living  animal,  comparing  it 
in  my  own  mind  w^th  the  skull,  until  I  was  thoroughly 
certain  of  the  position  of  the  brain  and  the  possibility 
of  reaching  it  from  any  position. 

An  African  sportsman  would  be  a  long  time  in  kill- 
ing a  Ceylon  elephant,  if  he  fired  at  the  long  range 
described  by  most  writers ;  in  fact,  he  would  not  kill 
one  out  of  twenty  that  he  fired  at  in  such  a  jungle-cov- 
ered country  as  Ceylon,  where,  in  most  cases,  every- 
thing depends  upon  the  success  of  the  first  barrel. 

It  is  the  fashion  in  Ceylon  to  get  as  close  as  possible 
to  an  elephant  before  firing ;  this  is  usually  at  about  ten 
yards'  distance,  at  which  range  nearly  every  shot  must 
be  fatal.  In  Africa,  according  to  all  accounts,  ele- 
phants are  fired  at  at  thirty,  forty,  and  even  at  sixty 
yards.  It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  African  sports- 
men take  the  shoulder  shot,  as  the  hitting  of  the  brain 
would  be  a  most  difficult  feat  at  such  a  distance,  seeing 
that  the  even  and  dusky  color  of  an  elephant's  head 
offers  no  peculiar  mark  for  a  delicate  aim. 

The  first  thing  that  a  good  sportsman  considers  with 
every  animal  is  the  point  at  which  to  aim  so  to  bag  him 
as  speedily  as  possible.  It  is  well  known  that  all  ani- 
mals, from  the  smallest  to  the  largest,  sink  into  instant 
death  when  shot  through  the  brain  ;  and  that  a  wound 
through  the  lungs  or  heai't  is  equally  fatal,  though  not 
so  instantaneous.  These  are  accordingly  the  points  for 
aim,  the  brain,  from  its  small  size,  being  the  most  diffi- 
cult to  hit.  Nevertheless,  in  a  jungle  country,  elephants 
must  be  shot  through  the  brain,  otherwise  they  would 


124       Eight  Tears'  Wandering's  in  Ceyton. 

not  be  bagged,  as  they  would  retreat  with  a  mortal 
wound  into  such  dense  jungle  that  no  man  could  follow. 
Seeing  how  easily  they  are  dropped  by  the  brain-shot 
if  approached  sufficiently  near  to  ensure  the  correctness 
of  the  aim,  no  one  would  ever  think  of  firing  at  the 
shoulder  who  had  been  accustomed  to  aim  at  the  head. 

A  Ceylon  sportsman  arriving  in  Africa  would  natu- 
rally examine  the  skull  of  the  African  elephant,  and 
when  once  certain  of  the  position  of  the  brain  he 
would  require  no  further  information.  Leave  him 
alone  for  hitting  it  if  he  knew  where  it  was. 

What  a  sight  for  a  Ceylon  elephant-hunter  would  be 
the  first  view  of  a  herd  of  African  elephants — all  tusk- 
ers !  In  Ceylon,  a  "  tusker"  is  a  kind  of  spectre,  to  be 
talked  of  by  a  few  who  have  had  the  good  luck  to  see 
one.  And  when  he  is  seen  by  a  good  sportsman,  it  is 
an  evil  hour  for  him — he  is  followed  till  he  gives  up  his 
tusks. 

It  is  a  singular  thing  that  Ceylon  is  the  only  part  of 
the  world  where  the  male  elephant  has  no  tusks ;  they 
have  miserable  little  grubbers  projecting  two  or  three 
inches  from  the  upper  jaw  and  inclining  downward. 
Thus  a  man  may  kill  some  hundred  elephants  without 
having  a  pair  of  tusks  in  his  possession.  The  largest 
that  I  have  seen  in  Ceylon  were  about  six  feet  long, 
and  five  inches  in  diameter  in  the  thickest  part. 
These  would  be  considered  rather  below  the  average 
in  Africa,  although  in  Ceylon  they  were  thought  mag- 
nificent. 

Nothing  produces  either  ivory  or  horn  in  fine  speci- 
mens throughout  Ceylon.  Although  some  of  the  buffa- 
loes have  tolerably  fine  heads,  they  will  not  bear  a 
comparison  with  those  of  other  countries.  The  horns 


Lack  of  Trophies.  125 

of  the  native  cattle  are  not  above  four  inches  in  length. 
The  elk  and  the  spotted  deer's  antlers  are  small  com- 
pared with  deer  of  their  size  on  the  continent  of  India. 
This  is  the  more  singular,  as  it  is  evident  from  the 
geological' formation  that  at  some  remote  period  Ceylon 
was  not  an  island,  but  formed  a  portion  of  the  main 
land,  from  which  it  is  now  only  separated  by  a  shallow 
and  rocky  channel  of  some  few  miles.  In  India  the 
bull  elephants  have  tusks,  and  the  cattle  and  buffaloes 
have  very  large  horns.  My  opinion  is  that  there  are 
elements  wanting  in  the  Ceylon  pasturage  (which  is 
generally  poor)  for  the  formation  of  both  horn  and 
ivory.  Thus  many  years  of  hunting  and  shooting  are 
rewarded  by  few  trophies  of  the  chase.  So  great  is 
the  natural  inactivity  of  the  natives  that  no  one  under- 
stands the  preparation  of  the  skins ;  thus  all  the  elk 
and  deer  hides  are  simply  dried  in  the  sun,  and  the 
hair  soon  rots  and"  falls  off.  In  India,  the  skin  of  the 
Samber  deer  (the  Ceylon  elk)  is  prized  above  all 
others,  and  is  manufactured  into  gaiters,  belts,  pouches, 
coats,  breeches,  etc. ;  but  in  Ceylon,  these  things  are 
entirely  neglected  by  the  miserable  and  indolent  popu- 
lation, whose  whole  thoughts  are  concentrated  upon 
their  daily  bread,  or  rather  their  curry  and  rice. 

At  Newera  Ellia,  the  immense  number  of  elk  that  I 
have  killed  would  have  formed  a  valuable  collection  of 
skins  had  they  been  properly  prepared,  instead  of 
which  the  hair  has  been  singed  from  them,  and  they 
have  been  boiled  up  for  dogs'  meat. 

Boars'  hides  have  shared  the  same  fate.     These  are 

far  thicker  than  those  of  the  tame  species,  and  should 

make  excellent  saddles.     So  tough  are  they  upon  the 

live  animal  that  it  requires  a  very  sharp-pointed  knife 

11* 


ia6        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

to  penetrate  them,  and  too  much  care  cannot  be  be- 
stowed upon  the  manufacture  of  a  knife  for  this  style 
of  hunting,  as  the  boar  is  one  of  the  fiercest  and  most 
dangerous  of  animals.  *  •-. 

Living  in  the  thickest  jungles,  he  rambles  out  at 
night  in  search  of  roots,  fruits,  large  earth-worms,  01 
anything  else  that  he  can  find,  being,  like  his  domesti- 
cated brethren,  omnivorous.  He  is  a  terrible  enemy  to 
the  pack,  and  has  cost  me  several  good  dogs  within  the 
last  few  years.  Without  first-rate  seizers  it  would  be 
impossible  to  kill  him  with  the  knife  without  being 
ripped,  as  he  invariably  turns  to  bay  after  a  short  run 
in  the  thickest  jungle  he  can  find.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  a  good  stout  boar-spear,  with  a  broad  blade  and 
strong  handle,  is  the  proper  weapon  for  the  attack ;  but 
a  spear  is  very  unhandy  and  even  dangerous  to  carry 
in  such  a  hilly  country  as  the  neighborhood  of  Newera 
Ellin.  The  forests  are  full  of  steep  ravines  and  such 
tangled  underwood  that  following  the  hounds  is  always 
an  arduous  task,  but  with  a  spear  in  the  hand  it  is  still 
more  difficult,  and  the  point  is  almost  certain  to  get 
injured  by  striking  against  the  numerous  rocks,  in 
which  case  it  is  perfectly  useless  when  perhaps  most 
required.  I  never  carry  a  spear  for  these  reasons,  but 
am  content  with  the  knife,  as  in  my  opinion  any  animal 
that  can  beat  off  good  hounds  and  a  long  knife  deserves 
to  escape. 

My  knife  was  made  to  my  own  pattern  by  Paget  of 
Piccadilly.  The  blade  is  one  foot  in  length,  and  two 
inches  broad  in  the  widest  part,  and  slightly  concave  in 
the  middle.  The  steel  is  of  the  most  exquisite  quality, 
and  the  entire  knife  weighs  three  pounds.  The  pecu- 
liar shape  added  to  the  weight  of  the  blade  gives  an 


Bertram.  127 

extraordinary  force  to  a  blow,  and  the  blade  being 
double-edged  for  three  inches  from  the  point,  inflicts  a 
fearful  wound  :  altogether  it  is  a  very  desperate  weapon, 
and  admirably  adapted  for  this  kind  of  sport. 

A  feat  is  frequently  performed  by  the  Nepaulese  by 
cutting  off  a  buffalo's  head  at  one  blow  of  a  sabre  or 
tulwal.  The  blade  of  this  weapon  is  peculiar,  being 
concave,  and  the  extremity  is  far  heavier  than  the  hilt; 
the  animal's  neck  is  tied  down  to  a  post,  so  as  to  pro- 
duce a  tension  on  the  muscles,  without  which  the 
blow,  however  great,  would  have  a  comparatively 
small  effect. 

The  accounts  of  this  feat  always  appeared  very  mar- 
velous to  my  mind,  until  I  one  day  unintentionally  per- 
formed something  similar  on  a  small  scale  with  the 
hunting-knife. 

I  was  out  hunting  in  the  Elk  Plains,  and  having 
drawn  several  jungles  blank,  I  ascended  the  mountains 
which  wall  in  the  western  side  of  the  patinas  (grass- 
plains),  making  sure  of  finding  an  elk  near  the  sum- 
mit. It  was  a  lovely  day,  perfectly  calm  and  cloudless  ; 
in  which  weather  the  elk,  especially  the  large  bucks, 
are  in  the  habit  of  lying  high  up  the  mountains. 

I  had  nine  couple  of  hounds  out,  among  which 
were  some  splendid  seizers,  "Bertram,"  "Killbuck," 
"Hecate,"  "Bran,"  "Lucifer"  and  "Lena,"  the  first 
three  being  the  progeny  of  the  departed  hero,  old 
"  Smut,"  who  had  been  killed  by  a  boar  a  short  time 
before.  They  were  then  just  twelve  months  old,  and 
"  Bertram"  stood  twenty-eight  and  a  half  inches  high 
at  the  shoulder.  To  him  his  sire's  valor  had  descended 
untarnished,  and  for  a  dog  of  his  young  age  he  was  the 
most  courageous  that  I  have  ever  seen.  In  appearance 


128        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

he  was  a  tall  Manilla  bloodhound,  with  the  strength  of 
a  young  lion  ;  very  affectionate  in  disposition,  and  a 
general  favorite,  having  won  golden  opinions  in  every 
contest.  Whenever  a  big  buck  was  at  bay,  and  punish- 
ing the  leading  hounds,  he  was  ever  the  first  to  get  his 
hold  ;  no  matter  how  great  the  danger,  he  never  waited 
but  recklessly  dashed  in.  "  There  goes  Bertram ! 
Look  at  Bertram  !  Well  done,  Bertram  !"  were  the  con- 
stant exclamations  of  a  crowd  of  excited  spectators  when 
a  powerful  buck  was  brought  to  bay.  He  was  a  wonder- 
ful dog,  but  I  prophesied  an  early  grave  for  him,  as  no 
dog  in  the  world  could  long  escape  death  who  rushed 
so  recklessly  upon  his  dangerous  game.*  His  sister, 
"  Hecate,"  was  more  careful,  and  she  is  alive  at  this 
moment,  and  a  capital  seizer  of  great  strength  com- 
bined with  speed,  having  derived  the  latter  from  her 
dam,  "  Lena,"  an  Australian  greyhound,  than  whom  a 
better  or  truer  bitch  never  lived.  "  Old  Bran,"  and  his 
beautiful  son  "  Lucifer,"  were  fine  specimens  of  gray- 
hound  and  deerhound,  and  as  good  as  gold. 

There  was  not  a  single  elk  track  the  whole  of  the 
way  up  the  mountain,  and  upon  arriving  at  the  top,  I 
gave  up  all  hope  of  finding  for  that  day,  and  I  enjoyed 
the  beautiful  view  over  the  vast  valley  of  forest  which 
lay  below,  spangled  with  green  plains,  and  bounded  by 
the  towering  summit  of  Adam's  Peak,  at  about  twenty- 
five  miles'  distance.  The  coffee  estates  of  Dimboola  lay 
far  beneath  upon  the  right,  and  the  high  mountains  of 
Kirigallapotta  and  Totapella  bounded  the  view  upon 
the  left. 

There  is  a  good  path  along  the  narrow  ridge  on  the 

*  Speared  through  the  body  by  the  horns  of  a  buck  elk  acd  killed, 
shortly  after  this  was  written. 


A  Boar  Hunt.  129 

summit  of  the  Elk  Plain  hills,  which  has  been  made 
by  elephants.  This  runs  along  the  very  top  of  the 
knife-like  ridge,  commanding  a  view  of  the  whole 
country  to  the  right  and  left.  The  range  is  terminated 
abruptly  by  a  high  peak,  which  descends  in  a  sheer 
precipice  at  the  extremity. 

I  strolled  along  the  elephant-path,  intending  to  gain 
the  extreme  end  of  the  range  for  the  sake  of  the  view, 
when  I  suddenly  came  upon  the  track  of  a  "boar,"  in 
the  middle  of  the  path.  It  was  perfectly  fresh,  as  were 
also  the  ploughings  in  the  ground  close  by,  and  the 
water  of  a  small  pool  was  still  curling  with  clouds  of 
mud,  showing  most  plainly  that  he  had  been  disturbed 
from  his  wallowing  by  my  noise  in  ascending  the  moun- 
tain-side. 

There  was  no  avoiding  the  find  ;  and  away  went 
"Bluebeard,"  "  Plough  boy,"  "Gaylass,"  and  all  the 
leading  hounds,  followed  by  the  whole  pack,  in  full 
chorus,  straight  along  the  path  at  top  speed.  Presently 
they  turned  sharp  to  the  left  into  the  thick  jungle, 
dashing  down  the  hillside  as  though  off  to  the  Elk 
Plains  below.  At  this  pace  I  knew  the  hunt  would  not 
last  long,  and  from  my  elevated  stand  I  waited  impa- 
tiently for  the  first  sounds  of  the  bay.  Round  they 
turned  again,  up  the  steep  hillside,  and  the  music 
slackened  a  little,  as  the  hounds  had  enough  to  do  in 
bursting  through  the  tangled  bamboo  up  the  hill. 

Presently  I  heard  the  rush  of  the  boar  in  the  jungle, 
coming  straight  up  the  hill  toward  the  spot  where  I 
was  standing ;  and,  fearing  that  he  might  top  the  ridge 
and  make  down  the  other  side  toward  Dimboola,  I 
gave  him  a  halloo  to  head  him  back.  Hark,  for-r-rard 
to  him  !  yo-o-ick  !  to  him  ! 

I 


130       Eight  Tears1  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Such  a  yell,  right  in  his  road,  astonished  him,  and, 
as  I  expected,  he  headed  sharp  back.  Up  came  the 
pack,  going  like  race-horses,  and  wheeling  ofT  where  the 
game  had  turned,  a  few  seconds  running  along  the  side 
of  the  mountain,  and  then  such  a  burst  of  music !  such 
a  bay !  The  boar  had  turned  sharp  round,  and  had 
met  the  hounds  on  a  level  platform  on  the  top  of  a 
ridge. 

"  Lucifer"  never  leaves  my  side  until  we  are  close  up 
to  the  bay ;  and  plunging  and  tearing  through  the 
bamboo  grass  and  tangled  nillho  for  a  few  hundred 
yards,  I  at  length  approached  the  spot,  and  I  heard 
Lord  Bacon  grunting  and  roaring  loud  above  the  din 
of  the  hounds. 

Bertram  has  him  for  a  guinea !  Hold  him,  good 
lad!  and  away  dashed  "Lucifer"  from  my  side  at  the 
halloo. 

In  another  moment  I  was  close  up,  and  with  my  knife 
ready  I  broke  through  the  dense  jungle  and  was  im- 
mediately in  the  open  space  cleared  by  the  struggles  of 
the  boar  and  pack.  Unluckily,  I  had  appeared  full  in 
the  boar's  front,  and  though  five  or  six  of  the  large 
seizers  had  got  their  holds,  he  made  a  sudden  charge 
at  me  that  shook  them  all  off,  except  "  Bertram"  and 
"  Lena." 

It  was  the  work  of  an  instant,  as  I  jumped  quickly 
on  one  side,  and  instinctively  made  a  downward  cut  at 
him  in  passing.  He  fell  all  of  a  heap,  to  the  complete 
astonishment  of  myself  and  the  furious  pack. 

He  was  dead  !  killed  by  one  blow  with  the  hunting- 
knife.  I  had  struck  him  across  the  back  just  behind 
the  shoulders,  and  the  wound  was  so  immense  that  he 
had  the  appearance  of  being  nearly  half  divided.  Not 


Herds  of  Wild  Boars*  _  131 

only  was  the  spine  severed,  but  the  blade  had  cut  deep 
into  his  vitals  and  produced  instant  death. 

One  of  the  dogs  was  hanging  on  his  hind  quarters 
when  he  charged,  and  as  the  boar  was  rushing  forward, 
the  muscles  of  the  back  were  accordingly  stretched 
tight,  and  thus  the  effect  of  the  cut  was  increased  to 
this  extraordinary  degree.  He  was  a  middling-sized 
boar,  as  near  as  I  could  guess,  about  two  and  a  half 
hundredweight. 

Fortunately  none  of  the  pack  were  seriously  hurt, 
although  his  tusks  were  as  sharp  as  a  knife.  This 
was  owing  to  the  short  duration  of  the  fight,  and  also 
to  the  presence  of  so  many  seizers,  who  backed  each 
other  up  without  delay. 

There  is  no  saying  to  what  size  a  wild  boar  grows. 
I  have  never  killed  them  with  the  hounds  above  four 
hundredweight ;  but  I  have  seen  solitary  boars  in  the 
low  country  that  must  have  weighed  nearly  double. 

I  believe  the  flesh  is  very  good  ;  by  the  natives  it  is 
highly  prized ;  but  I  have  so  strong  a  prejudice  against 
it  from  the  sights  I  have  seen  of  their  feasting  upon 
putrid  elephants  that  I  never  touch  it. 

The  numbers  of  wild  hogs  in  the  low  country  is  sur- 
prising, and  they  are  most  useful  in  cleaning  up  the 
carcases  of  dead  animals  and  destroying  vermin.  I 
seldom  or  never  fire  at  a  hog  in  those  districts,  as  their 
number  is  so  great  that  there  is  no  sport  in  shooting 
them.  They  travel  about  in  herds  of  one  and  two 
hundred,  and  even  more.  These  are  composed  of 
sows  and  young  boars,  as  the  latter  leave  the  herd  when 
arrived  at  maturity. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

CURIOUS  PHENOMENON — PANORAMA  OF  OUVA — SOUTH-WEST 
MONSOON — HUNTING  FOLLOWERS — FORT  M'DONALD  RIVER 
— JUNGLE  PATHS — DANGEROUS  LOCALITY — GREAT  WATER- 
FALL— START  FOR  HUNTING — THE  FIND — A  GALLANT  STAG 
— "BRAN"  AND  "LUCIFER" — "PHRENZY'S"  DEATH — BUCK 
AT  BAY — THE  CAVE  HUNTING-BOX — "MADCAP'S"  DIVE — ELK 
SOUP — FORMER  INUNDATION — "  BLUEBEARD"  LEADS  OFF — 
"  HECATE'S  "  COURSE — THE  ELK'S  LEAP — VARIETY  OF  DEER 
— THE  AXIS — CEYLON  BEARS — VARIETY  OF  VERMIN — TRIALS 
FOR  HOUNDS — HOUNDS  AND  THEIR  MASTERS — A  SPORTSMAN 
"  SHUT  UP" — A  CORPORAL  AND  CENTIPEDE. 

FROM  June  to  November  the  south-west  monsoon 
brings  wind  and  mist  across  the  Newera  Ellia 
mountains. 

Clouds  of  white  fog  boil  up  from  the  Dimboola  val- 
ley like  the  steam  from  a  huge  cauldron,  and  invade 
the  Newera  Ellia  plain  through  the  gaps  in  the  moun- 
tains to  the  westward. 

The  wind  howls  over  the  high  ridges,  cutting  the 
jungle  with  its  keen  edge,  so  that  it  remains  as  stunted 
brushwood,  and  the  opaque  screen  of  driving  fog  and 
drizzling  rain  is  so  dense  that  one  feels  convinced  there 
is  no  sun  visible  within  at  least  a  hundred  miles. 

There  is  a  curious  phenomenon,  however,  in  this 
locality.  When  the  weather  described  prevails  at  New- 
132 


Panorama  of  Ouva.  133 

era  Ellia,  there  is  actually  not  one  drop  of  rain  within 
four  miles  of  my  house  in  the  direction  of  Badulla. 
Dusty  roads,  a  cloudless  sky  and  dazzling  sunshine 
astonish  the  thoroughly-soaked  traveler,  who  rides  out 
of  the  rain. and  mist  into  a  genial  climate,  as  though  he 
passed  through  a  curtain.  The  wet  weather  terminates 
at  a  mountain  called  Hackgalla  (or  more  properly 
Yakkadagalla,  or  iron  rock).  This  bold  rock,  whose 
summit  is  about  six  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above 
the  sea,  breasts  the  driving  wind  and  seems  to  com- 
mand the  storm.  The  rushing  clouds  halt  in  their  mad 
course  upon  its  crest  and  curl  in  sudden  impotence 
around  the  craggy  summits.  The  deep  ravine  formed 
by  an  opposite  mountain  is  filled  with  the  vanquished 
mist,  which  sinks  powerless  in  its  dark  gorge  ;  and  the 
bright  sun,  shining  from  the  east,  spreads  a  perpetual 
rainbow  upon  the  gauze-like  cloud  of  fog  which  settles 
in  the  deep  hollow. 

This  is  exceedingly  beautiful.  The  perfect  circle  of 
the  rainbow  stands  like  a  fairy  spell  in  the  giddy  depth 
of  the  hollow,  and  seems  to  forbid  the  advance  of  the 
monsoon.  All  before  is  bright  and  cloudless  ;  the  lovely 
panorama  of  the  Ouva  country  spreads  before  the  eye 
for  many  miles  beneath  the  feet.  All  behind  is  dark 
and  stormy ;  the  wind  is  howling,  the  forests  are  groan- 
ing, the  rain  is  pelting  upon  the  hills. 

The  change  appears  impossible  ;  but  there  it  is,  ever 
the  same ;  season  after  season,  year  after  year,  the  rug- 
ged top  of  Hackgalla  struggles  with  the  storms,  and 
ever  victorious  the  cliffs  smile  in  the  sunshine  on  the 
eastern  side  ;  the  rainbow  reappears  with  the  monsoon, 
and  its  vivid  circle  remains  like  the  guardian  spirit  of 
the  valley. 
12 


134       Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

It  is  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  extraordinary 
appearance  of  this  scene  by  description.  The  pano- 
ramic view  in  itself  is  celebrated  ;  but  as  the  point  in 
the  road  is  reached  where  the  termination  of  the  mon- 
soon dissolves  the  cloud  and  rain  into  a  thin  veil  of 
mist,  the  panorama  seen  through  the  gauze-like  atmos- 
phere has  the  exact  appearance  of  a  dissolving  view  ; 
the  depth,  the  height  and  distance  of  every  object,  all 
great  in  reality,  are  magnified  by  the  dim  and  unnatural 
appearance  ;  and  by  a  few  steps  onward  the  veil  gradu- 
ally fades  away,  and  the  distant  prospect  lies  before  the 
eye  with  a  glassy  clearness  made  doubly  striking  by  the 
sudden  contrast. 

The  road  winds  along  about  midway  up  the  moun- 
tain, bounded  on  the  right  by  the  towering  cliffs  and 
sloping  forest  of  Hackgalla,  and  on  the  left  by  the 
almost  precipitous  descent  of  nearly  one  thousand  feet, 
the  sides  of  which  are  clothed  by  alternate  forest  and 
waving  grass.  At  the  bottom  flows  a  torrent,  whose 
roar,  ascending  from  the  hidden  depth,  increases  the 
gloomy  mystery  of  the  scene. 

On  the  north,  east  and  south-east  of  Newera  Ellia 
the  sunshine  is  perpetual  during  the  reign  of  the  misty 
atmosphere,  which  the  south-west  monsoon  drives  upon 
the  western  side  of  the  mountains.  Thus,  there  is  al- 
ways an  escape  open  from  the  wet  season  at  Newera 
Ellia  by  a  short  walk  of  three  or  four  miles. 

A  long  line  of  dark  cloud  is  then  seen,  terminated 
by  a  bright  blue  sky.  So  abrupt  is  the  line  and  the 
cessation  of  the  rain  that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how 
the  moisture  is  absorbed. 

This  sudden  termination  of  the  cloud-capped  moun- 
tain gives  rise  to  a  violent  wind  in  the  sunny  valleys  and 


South-west  Monsoon.  135 

bare  hills  beneath.  The  chilled  air  of  Newera  Ellia 
pours  down  into  the  sun-warmed  atmosphere  below, 
and  creates  a  gale  that  sweeps  across  the  grassy  hill- 
tops with  great  force,  giving  the  sturdy  rhododendrons 
an  inclination  to  the  north-east,  which  clearly  marks  the 
steadiness  of  the  monsoon. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  Newera  Ellia 
lies  in  unbroken  gloom  for  months  together.  One 
month  generally  brings  a  share  of  uninterrupted  bad 
weather ;  this  is  from  the  middle  of  June  to  the  middle 
of  July.  This  is  the  commencement  of  the  south-west 
monsoon,  which  usually  sets  in  with  great  violence. 
The  remaining  portion  of  what  is  called  the  wet  season, 
till  the  end  of  November,  is  about  as  uncertain  as  the 
climate  of  England — some  days  fine,  others  wet,  and 
every  now  and  then  a  week  of  rain  at  one  bout. 

A  thoroughly  saturated  soil,  with  a  cold  wind,  and 
driving  rain,  and  forests  as  full  of  water  as  sponges, 
are  certain  destroyers  of  scent;  hence,  hunting  at 
Newera  Ellia  is  out  of  the  question  during  such 
weather.  The  hounds  would  get  sadly  out  of  condi- 
tion, were  it  not  for  the  fine  weather  in  the  vicinity 
which  then  invites  a  trip. 

I  have  frequently  walked  ten  miles  to  my  hunting- 
grounds,  starting  before  daybreak,  and  then,  after  a 
good  day's  sport  up  and  down  the  steep  mountains,  I 
have  returned  home  in  the  evening.  But  this  is  twelve 
hours'  work,  and  it  is  game  thrown  away,  as  there  is 
no  possibility  of  getting  the  dead  elk  home.  An  ani- 
mal that  weighs  between  four  hundred  and  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  without  his  insides,  is  not  a  very 
easy  creature  to  move  at  any  time,  especially  in  such  a 
steep  mountainous  country  as  the  neighborhood  of 


136        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Newera  Ellia.  As  previously  described,  at  the  base 
of  the  mountains  are  cultivated  rice-lands,  generally 
known  as  paddy-fields,  where  numerous  villages  have 
sprung  up  from  the  facility  with  which  a  supply  of 
water  is  obtained  from  the  wild  mountains  above  them. 
I  have  so  frequently  given  the  people  elk  and  hogs 
which  I  have  killed  on  the  heights  above  their  paddy- 
fields  that  they  are  always  on  the  alert  at  the  sound  of 
the  bugle,  and  a  few  blasts  from  the  mountain-top  im- 
mediately creates  a  race  up  from  the  villages,  some  two 
or  three  thousand  feet  below.  Like  vultures  scenting 
carrion,  they  know  that  an  elk  is  killed,  and  they  start 
off  to  the  well-known  sound  like  a  pack  of  trained 
hounds. 

Being  thorough  mountaineers,  they  are  extraordin'aiy 
fellows  for  climbing  the  steep  grassy  sides.  With  a 
light  stick  about  six  feet  long  in  one  hand,  they  will 
start  from  the  base  of  the  mountains  and  clamber  up 
the  hillsides  in  a  surprisingly  short  space  of  time,  such 
as  would  soon  take  the  conceit  out  of  a  "  would-be  pe- 
destrian." This  is  owing  to  the  natural  advantages  of 
naked  feet  and  no  inexpressibles. 

Whenever  an  elk  has  given  a  long  run  in  the  direc- 
tion of  this  country,  and  after  a  persevering  and  ardu- 
ous chase  of  many  hours,  I  have  at  length  killed  him 
on  the  grassy  heights  above  the  villages,  I  always  take 
a  delight  in  watching  the  tiny  specks  issuing  from  the 
green  strips  of  paddy  as  the  natives  start  off  at  the 
sound  of  the  horn. 

At  this  altitude,  it  requires  a  sharp  eye  to  discern  a 
man,  but  at  length  they  are  seen  scrambling  up  the 
ravines  and  gullies  and  breasting  the  sharp  pitches, 
until  at  last  the  first  man  arrives  thoroughly  "  used  up  ;" 


Hunting  Followers.  137 

and  a  string  of  fellows  of  lesser  wind  come  in,  in  sec- 
tions, all  thoroughly  blown. 

However,  the  first  man  in  never  gets  the  lion's  share, 
as  the  poor  old  men,  with  willing  spirits  and  weak 
flesh,  always  bring  up  the  rear,  and  I  insist  upon  a  fair 
division  between  the  old  and  young,  always  giving  an 
extra  piece  to  a  man  who  happens  to  know  a  little 
English.  This  is  a  sort  of  reward  for  acquirements, 
equivalent  to  a  university  degree,  and  he  is  considered 
a  literary  character  by  his  fellows. 

There  is  nothing  that  these  people  appreciate  so  much 
as  elk  and  hog's  flesh.  Living  generally  upon  boiled 
rice  and  curry  composed  of  pumpkins  and  sweet  pota- 
toes, they  have  no  opportunities  of  tasting  meat  unless 
upon  these  occasions. 

During  the  very  wet  weather  at  Newera  Ellia  I 
sometimes  take  the  pack  and  bivouac  for  a  fortnight  in 
the  fine-weather  country.  About  a  week  previous  I 
send  down  word  to  the  village  people  of  my  intention, 
but  upon  these  occasions  I  never  give  them  the  elk.  I 
always  insist  upon  their  bringing  rice,  etc.,  for  the  dogs 
and  myself  in  exchange  for  venison,  otherwise  I  should 
have  some  hundreds  of  noisy,  idle  vagabonds  flocking 
up  to  me  like  carrion-crows. 

Of  course  I  give  them  splendid  bargains,  as  I  barter 
simply  on  the  principle  that  no  man  shall  come  for 
nothing.  Thus,  if  a  man  assist  in  building  the  kennel, 
or  carrying  a  load,  or  cutting  bed-grass,  or  searching 
for  lost  hounds,  he  gets  a  share  of  meat.  The  others 
bring  rice,  coffee,  fowls,  eggs,  plantains,  vegetables, 
etc.,  which  I  take  at  ridiculous  rates — a  bushel  of  rice 
for  a  full-grown  elk,  etc.,  the  latter  being  worth  a 
couple  of  pounds  and  the  rice  about  seven  shillings. 
12* 


138         Eight  Tears*   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

Thus  the  hounds  keep  themselves  in  rice  and  supply 
me  with  everything  that  I  require  during  the  trip,  at 
the  same  time  gratifying  the  natives. 

The  direct  route  to  this  country  was  unknown  to 
Europeans  at  Newera  Ellia  until  I  discovered  it  one 
day,  accidentally,  in  following  the  hounds. 

A  large  tract  of  jungle-covered  hill  stretches  away 
from  the  Moon  Plains  at  Newera  Ellia  toward  the  east, 
forming  a  hog's  back  of  about  three  and  a  half  miles 
in  length.  Upon  the  north  side  this  shelves  into  a  deep 
gorge,  at  the  bottom  of  which  flows,  or  rather  tumbles, 
Fort  M'Donald  river  on  its  way  to  the  low  country, 
through  forest-covered  hills  and  perpendicular  cliffs, 
until  it  reaches  the  precipitous  patina  mountains,  when, 
in  a  succession  of  large  cataracts,  it  reaches  the  paddy- 
fields  in  the  first  village  of  Pere'welle  (guava  paddy- 
field).  Thus  the  river  in  the  gorge  below  runs  parallel 
to  the  long  hog's  back  of  mountain.  This  is  bordered 
on  the  other  side  by  another  ravine  and  smaller  tor- 
rent, to  which  the  Badulla  road  runs  parallel  until  it 
reaches  the  mountain  of  Hackgalla,  at  which  place  the 
ravine  deepens  into  the  misty  gorge  already  described. 

At  one  time,  if  an  elk  crossed  the  Badulla  road  and 
gained  the  Hog's  Back  jungle,  both  he  and  the  hounds 
were  lost,  as  no  one  could  follow  through  such  impene- 
trable jungle  without  knowing  either  the  distance  or 
direction. 

"They  are  gone  to  Fort  M'Donald  river!"  This 
was  the  despairing  exclamation  at  all  times  when  the 
pack  crossed  the  road,  and  we  seldom  saw  the  hounds 
again  until  late  that  night  or  on  the  following  day. 
Many  never  returned,  and  Fort  M'Donald  river  became 
a  by-word  as  a  locality  to  be  always  dreaded. 


Fort  M'Donald  River.  ^39 

After  a  long  run  one  day,  the  pack  having  gone  off 
in  this  fatal  direction,  I  was  determined,  at  any  price, 
to  hunt  them  up,  and  accordingly  I  went  some  miles 
down  the  Badulla  road  to  the  limestone  quarries,  which 
are  five  miles  from  the  Newera  Ellia  plain.  From  this 
point  I  left  the  road  and  struck  down  into  the  deep, 
grassy  valley,  crossing  the  river  (the  same  which  runs 
by  the  road  higher  up)  and  continuing  along  the  side 
of  the  valley  until  I  ascended  the  opposite  range  of 
hills.  Descending  the  precipitous  side,  I  at  length 
reached  the  paddy-fields  in  the  low  country,  which 
were  watered  by  Fort  M'Donald  river,  and  I  looked  up 
to  the  lofty  range  formed  by  the  Hog's  Back  hill,  now 
about  three  thousand  feet  above  me.  Thus  I  had 
gained  the  opposite  side  of  the  Hog's  Back,  and,  after  a 
stiff  pull  up  the  mountain,  I  returned  home  by  a  good 
path,  which  I  had  formerly  discovered  along  the  course 
of  the  river  through  the  forest  to  Newera  Ellia,  via 
Rest-and-be-Thankful  Valley  and  the  Barrack  Plains, 
having  made  a  circuit  of  about  twenty-five  miles  and 
become  thoroughly  conversant  with  all  the  localities. 
I  immediately  determined  to  have  a  path  cut  from  the 
Badulla  road  across  the  Hog's  Back  jungle  to  the  pati- 
nas, which  looked  down  upon  Fort  M'Donald  on  the 
other  side,  and  up  which  I  had.  ascended  on  my  return. 
I  judged  the  distance  would  not  exceed  two  miles 
across,  and  I  chose  the  point  of  junction  with  the  Ba- 
dulla road  two  miles  and  a  half  from  my  house.  My 
reason  for  this  was,  that  the  elk  invariably  took  to  the 
jungle  at  this  place,  which  proved  it  to  be  the  easiest 
route. 

This  road,  on  completion,  answered  every  expecta- 
tion, connecting  the  two  sides  of  the  Hog's  Back  by  an 


140        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

excellent  path  of  about  two  miles,  and  debouching  on 
the  opposite  side  on  a  high  patina  peak  which  com- 
manded the  whole  country.  Thus  was  the  whole 
country  opened  up  by  this  single  path,  and  should  an 
elk  play  his  old  trick  and  be  ofT  across  the  Hog's  Back 
to  Fort  M'Donald  river,  I  could  be  there  nearly  as  soon 
as  he  could,  and  also  keep  within  hearing  of  the  hounds 
throughout  the  run. 

I  was  determined  to  take  the  tent  and  regularly  hunt 
up  the  whole  country  on  the  other  side  of  the  Hog's 
Back,  as  the  weather  was  very  bad  at  Newcra  Ellia, 
while  in  this  spot  it  was  beautifully  fine,  although  very 
windy. 

I  therefore  sent  on  the  tent,  kennel-troughs  and  pots, 
and  all  the  paraphernalia  indispensable  for  the  jungle, 
and  on  the  3ist  May,  1852,  I  started,  having  two  com- 
panions— Capt.  Pelly,  Thirty-seventh  Regiment,  who 
was  then  commandant  of  Newera  Ellia,  and  his  brother 
on  a  visit.  It  was  not  more  than  an  hour  and  a  half's 
good  walking  from  my  house  to  the  high  patina  peak 
upon  which  I  pitched  the  tent,  but  the  country  and 
climate  are  so  totally  distinct  from  anything  at  Newera 
Ellia  that  it  gives  every  one  the  idea  of  being  fifty 
miles  away. 

We  hewed  out  a  spacious  arbor  at  the  edge  of  the 
jungle,  and  in  this  I  had  the  tent  pitched  to  protect  it 
from  the  wind,  which  it  did  effectually,  as  well  as  the 
kennel,  which  was  near  the  same  spot.  The  servants 
made  a  good  kitchen,  and  the  encampment  was  soon 
complete. 

There  never  could  have  been  a  more  romantic  or 
beautiful  spot  for  a  bivouac.  To  the  right  lay  the  dis- 
tant view  of  the  low  country,  stretching  into  an  unde- 


Great  Waterfall.  141 

fined  distance,  until  the  land  and  sky  appeared  to  melt 
together.  Below,  at  a  depth  of  about  three  thousand 
feet,  the  river  boiled  through  the  rocky  gorge  until  it 
reached  the  village  of  Pere*welle  at  the  base  of  the  line 
of  mountains,  whose  cultivated  paddy-fields  looked  no 
larger  than  the  squares  upon  a  chess-board.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river  rose  a  precipitous  and  im- 
passable mountain,  even  to  a  greater  altitude  than  the 
facing  ridge  upon  which  I  stood,  forming  as  grand  a 
foreground  as  the  eye  could  desire.  Above,  below, 
around,  there  was  the  bellowing  sound  of  heavy  cata- 
racts echoed  upon  all  sides. 

Certainly  this  country  is  very  magnificent,  but  it  is 
an  awful  locality  for  hunting,  as  the  elk  has  too  great 
an  advantage  over  both  hounds  and  hunters.  Moun- 
tainous patinas  of  the  steepest  inclination,  broken  here 
and  there  by  abrupt  precipices,  and  with  occasional 
level  platforms  of  waving  grass,  descend  to  the  river's 
bed.  These  patina  mountains  are  crowned  by  exten- 
sive forests,  and  narrow  belts  of  jungle  descend  from 
the  summit  to  the  base,  clothing  the  numerous  ravines 
which  furrow  the  mountain's  side.  Thus  the  entire 
surface  of  the  mountains  forms  a  series  of  rugged  grass- 
lands, so  steep  as  to  be  ascended  with  the  greatest  diffi- 
culty, and  the  elk  lie  in  the  forests  on  the  summits  and 
also  in  the  narrow  belts  which  cover  the  ravines. 

The  whole  country  forms  a  gorge,  like  a  gigantic 
letter  V.  At  the  bottom  roars  the  dreaded  torrent, 
Fort  M'Donald  river,  in  a  succession  of  foaming  cata- 
racts, all  of  which,  however  grand  individually,  are 
completely  eclipsed  by  its  last  great  plunge  of  three 
hundred  feet  perpendicular  depth  into  a  dark  and  nar- 
row chasm  of  wall-bound  cliffs. 


142        Eight  Tears1   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

The  bed  of  the  river  is  the  most  frightful  place  that 
can  be  conceived,  being  choked  by  enormous  fragments 
of  rock,  amidst  which  the  irresistible  torrent  howls  with 
a  fury  that  it  is  impossible  to  describe. 

The  river  is  confined  on  either  side  by  rugged  cliffs 
of  gneiss  rock,  from  which  these  fragments  have  from 
time  to  time  become  detached,  and  have  accordingly 
fallen  into  the  torrent,  choking  up  the  bed  and  throw- 
ing the  obstructed  waters  into  frightful  commotion. 
Here  they  lie  piled  one  upon  the  other,  like  so  many 
inverted  cottages ;  here  and  there  forming  dripping 
caverns ;  now  forming  walls  of  slippery  rock,  over 
which  the  water  falls  in  thundering  volumes  into  pools 
black  from  their  mysterious  depth,  and  from  which 
there  is  no  visible  means  of  exit.  These  dark  and 
dangerous  pools  are  walled  in  by  hoary-looking  rocks, 
beneath  which  the  pent-up  water  dives  and  boils  in 
subterranean  caverns,  until  it  at  length  escapes  through 
secret  channels,  and  reappears  on  the  opposite  side  of 
its  prison-walls ;  lashing  itself  into  foam  in  its  mad 
frenzy,  it  forms  rapids  of  giddy  velocity  through  the 
rocky  bounds ;  now  flying  through  a  narrowed  gorge, 
and  leaping,  striving  and  wrestling  with  unnumbered 
obstructions,  it  at  length  meets  with  the  mighty  fall,  like 
death  in  a  madman's  course.  One  plunge  !  without  a 
single  shelf  to  break  the  fall,  and  down,  down  it  sheets  ; 
at  first  like  glass,  then  like  the  broken  avalanche  of 
snow,  and  lastly ! — we  cannot  see  more — the  mist  boils 
from  the  ruin  of  shattered  waters  and  conceals  the 
bottom  of  the  fall.  The  roar  vibrates  like  thunder  in 
the  rocky  mountain,  and  forces  the  grandeur  of  the 
scene  through  every  nerve. 

No  animal  or  man,  once  in  those  mysterious  pools, 


Start  for  Hunting.  143 

could  ever  escape  without  assistance.  Thus  in  years 
past,  when  elk  were  not  followed  up  in  this  locality, 
the  poor  beast,  being  hard  pressed  by  the  hounds,  might 
have  come  to  bay  in  one  of  these  fatal  basins,  in  which 
case,  both  he  and  every  hound  who  entered  the  trap 
found  sure  destruction. 

The  hard  work  and  the  danger  to  both  man  and 
hound  in  this  country  may  be  easily  imagined  when  it 
is  explained  that  the  nature  of  the  elk  prompts  him  to 
seek  for  water  as  his  place  of  refuge  when  hunted  ; 
thus  he  makes  off  down  the  mountain  for  the  river,  in 
which  he  stands  at  bay.  Now  the  mountain  itself  is 
steep  enough,  but  within  a  short  distance  of  the  bot- 
tom the  river  is  in  many  places  guarded  by  precipices 
of  several  hundred  feet  in  depth.  A  few  difficult  passes 
alone  give  access  to  the  torrent,  but  the  descent  re- 
quires great  caution. 

Altogether,  this  forms  the  wildest  and  most  arduous 
country  that  can  be  imagined  for  hunting,  but  it 
abounds  with  elk. 

The  morning  was  barely  gray  when  I  woke  up  the 
servants  and  ordered  coffee,  and  made  the  usual  prepa- 
rations for  a  start.  At  last,  thank  goodness  !  the  boots 
are  laced !  This  is  the  troublesome  part  of  dressing 
before-  broad  daylight,  and  nevertheless  laced  ankle- 
boots  must  be  worn  as  a  protection  against  sprains  and 
bruises  in  such  a  country.  Never  mind  the  trouble  of 
lacing  them  ;  they  are  on  now,  and  there  is  a  good  day's 
work  in  store  for  them. 

It  was  the  3oth  May,  1853,  a  lovely  hunting  morn- 
ing and  a  fine  dew  on  the  patinas  ;  rather  too  windy, 
but  that  could  not  be  helped. 

Quiet    now  ! — down,    Bluebeard  ! — back,  will    you, 


144       Eight  Tears1  Wanderings  in  Ceylom 

Lucifer  !  Here's  a  smash  !  there  goes  the  jungle  ken- 
nel !  the  pack  squeezing  out  of  it  in  every  direction  as 
they  hear  the  preparations  for  departure. 

Now  we  are  all  right ;  ten  couple  out,  and  all  good 
ones.  Come  along,  yo-o-i,  along  here !  and  a  note  on 
the  horn  brings  the  pack  close  together  as  we  enter  the 
fo  -st  on  the  very  summit  of  the  ridge.  Thus  the 
start  was  completed  just  as  the  first  tinge  of  gold 
spread  along  the  eastern  horizon,  about  ten  minutes 
before  sunrise. 

The  jungles  were  tolerably  good,  but  there  were  not 
as  many  elk  tracks  as  I  had  expected  ;  probably  the 
high  wind  on  the  ridge  had  driven  them  lower  down 
for  shelter ;  accordingly  I  struck  an  oblique  direction 
downward,  and  I  was  not  long  before  I  discovered  a 
fresh  track  ;  fresh  enough,  certainly,  as  the  thick  moss 
which  covered  the  ground  showed  a  distinct  path  where 
the  animal  had  been  recently  feeding. 

Every  hound  had  stolen  away  ;  even  the  greyhounds 
buried  their  noses  in  the  broad  track  of  the  buck,  so 
fresh  was  the  scent ;  and  I  waited  quietly  for  "  the 
find."  The  greyhounds  stood  round  me  with  their 
ears  cocked  and  glistening  eyes,  intently  listening  for 
the  expected  sound. 

There  they  are  !  all  together,  such  a  burst !  They 
must  have  stolen  away  mute  and  have  found  on  the 
other  side  the  ridge,  for  they  were  now  corning  down 
at  full  speed  from  the  very  summit  of  the  mountain. 

From  the  amount  of  music  I  knew  they  had  a  good 
start,  but  I  had  no  idea  that  .the  buck  would  stand  to 
such  a  pack  at  the  very  commencement  of  the  hunt. 
Nevertheless  there  was  a  sudden  bay  within  a  few  hun- 
dred vards  of  me,  and  the  elk  had  already  turned  to 


The  Find.  145 

fight.     I  knew  that  he  was  an  immense  fellow  from 
his  track,  and  I  at  once  saw  that  he  would  show  fine 

* 

sport. 

Just  as  I  was  running  through  the  jungle  toward 
the  spot,  the  bay  broke  and  the  buck  had  evidently 
gone  off  straight  away,  as  I  heard  the  pack  in  full  cry 
rapidly  increasing  their  distance  and  going  off  down 
the  mountain. 

Sharp  following  was  now  the  order  of  the  day,  and 
away  we  went.  The  mountain  was  so  steep  that  it 
was  necessary  every  now  and  then  to  check  the  mo- 
mentum of  a  rapid  descent  by  clinging  to  the  tough 
saplings.  Sometimes  one  would  give  way  and  a  con- 
siderable spill  would  be  the  consequence.  However,  I 
soon  got  out  on  the  patina  about  one-third  of  the  way 
down  the  mountain,  and  here  I  met  one  of  the  natives, 
who  was  well  posted.  Not  a  sound  of  the  pack  was 
now  to  be  heard  ;  but  this  man  declared  most  positively 
that  the  elk  had  suddenly  changed  his  course,  and,  in- 
stead of  keeping  down  the  hill,  had  struck  off  to  his 
left  along  the  side  of  the  mountain.  Accordingly,  off  I 
started  as  hard  as  I  could  go  with  several  natives,  who 
all  agreed  as  to  the  direction. 

After  running  for  about  a  mile  along  the  patinas  in 
the  line  which  I  judged  the  pack  had  taken,  I  heard  one 
hound  at  bay  in  a  narrow  jungle  high  up  on  my  left. 
It  was  only  the  halt  of  an  instant,  for  the  next  moment 
I  heard  the  same  hound's  voice  evidently  running  on 
the  other  side  of  the  strip  of  jungle,  and  taking  off 
down  the  mountain  straight  for  the  dreaded  river. 
Here  was  a  day's  work  cut  out  as  neatly  as  could  be. 

Running  toward  the  spot,  I  found  the  buck's  track 
leading  in  that  direction,  and  I  gave  two  or  three  view 
13  K 


146        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

halloos  at  the  top  of  my  voice  to  bring  the  rest  of  the 
pack  down  upon  it.  They  were  close  at  hand,  but  the 
high  wind  had  prevented  me  from  hearing  them,  and 
away  they  came  from  the  jungle,  rushing  down  upon 
the  scent  like  a  flock  of  birds.  I  stepped  off  the  track 
to  let  them  pass  as  they  swept  by,  and  "  For-r-r-a-r-d 
to  him  !  For-r-r-ard  !"  was  the  word  the  moment  they 
had  passed,  as  I  gave  them  a  halloo  down  the  hill. 
It  was  a  bad  look-out  for  the  elk  now;  every  hound 
knew  that  his  master  was  close  up,  and  they  went  like 
demons. 

The  "  Tamby"  *  was  the  only  man  up,  and  he  and  I 
immediately  followed  in  chase  down  the  precipitous 
patinas ;  running  when  we  could,  scrambling,  and 
sliding  on  our  hams  when  it  was  too  steep  to  stand, ' 
and  keeping  good  hold  of  the  long  tufts  of  grass,  lest 
we  should  gain  too  great  an  impetus  and  slide  to' the 
bottom. 

After  about  half  a  mile  passed  in  this  manner,  I 
heard  the  bay,  and  I  saw  the  buck  far  beneath,  standing 
upon  a  level,  grassy  platform,  within  three  hundred 
yards  of  the  river.  The  whole  pack  was  around  him 
except  the  greyhounds,  who  were  with  me ;  but  not  a 
hound  had  a  chance  with  him,  and  he  repeatedly 
charged  in  among  them,  and  regularly  drove  them 
before  him,  sending  any  single  hound  spinning  when- 
ever he  came  within  his  range.  But  the  pack  quickly 
reunited,  and  always  returned  with  fresh  vigor  to  the 
attack.  There  was  a  narrow,  wooded  ravine  between 
me  and  them,  and,  with  caution  and  speed  combined, 
I  made  toward  the  spot  down  the  precipitous  moun- 

*  An  exceedingly  active  Moorman,  who  was  my  great  ally  in 
hunting. 


A  Gallant  Stag.  147 

tain,  followed  by  the  greyhounds  "  Bran "  and 
"  Lucifer." 

I  soon  arrived  on  a  level  with  the  bay,  and,  plunging 
into  the  ravine,  I  swung  myself  down  from  tree  to  tree, 
and  then  climbed  up  the  opposite  side.  I  broke  cover 
within  a  few  yards  of  him.  What  a  splendid  fellow 
he  looked !  He  was  about  thirteen  hands  high,  and 
carried  the  most  beautiful  head  of  horns  that  I  had 
ever  seen  upon  an  elk.  His  mane  was  bristled  up,  his 
nostril  was  distended,  and,  turning  from  the  pack,  he 
surveyed  me,  as  though  taking  the  measure  of  his  new 
antagonist.  Not  seeming  satisfied,  he  deliberately 
turned,  and,  descending  from  the  level  space,  he  care- 
fully picked  his  way.  Down  narrow  elk-runs  along 
the  steep  precipices,  and,  at  a  slow  walk,  with  the 
whole  pack  in  single  file  at  his  heels,  he  clambered 
down  toward  the  river.  I  followed  on  his  track  over 
places  which  I  would  not  pass  in  cold  blood  ;  and  I 
shortly  halted  above  a  cataract  of  some  eighty  feet  in 
depth,  about  a  hundred  paces  from  the  great  water- 
fall of  three  hundred  feet. 

It  was  extremely  grand  ;  the  roar  of  the  falls  so  en- 
tirely hushed  all  other  sounds  that  the  voices  of  the 
hounds  were  perfectly  inaudible,  although  within  a  few 
yards  of  me,  as  I  looked  down  upon  them  from  a  rock 
that  overhung  the  river. 

The  elk  stood  upon  the  brink  of  the  swollen  tor- 
rent ;  he  could  not  retreat,  as  the  wall  of  rock  was 
behind  him,  with  the  small  step-like  path  by  which  he 
had  descended  ;  this  was  now  occupied  by  the  yelling 
pack. 

The  hounds  knew  the  danger  of  the  place ;  but  the 
buck,  accustomed  to  these  haunts  from  his  birth,  sud- 


148        Eight  Tears'  Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

denly  leapt  across  the  boiling  rapids,  and  springing 
from  rock  to  rock  along  the  verge  of  the  cataract,  he 
gained  the  opposite  side.  Here  he  had  mistaken  his 
landing-place,  as  a  shelving  rock,  upon  which  he 
had  alighted,  was  so  steep  that  he  could  not  retain 
his  footing,  and  he  gradually  slid  down  toward  the 
river. 

At  this  moment,  to  my  horror,  both  "  Bran"  and 
"  Lucifer"  dashed  across  the  torrent,  and  bounding  from 
rock  to  rock,  they  sprung  at  the  already  tottering  elk, 
and  in  another  moment  both  he  and  they  rolled  over  in 
a  confused  mass  into  the  boiling  torrent.  One  more 
instant  and  they  reappeared,  the  buck  gallantly  stem- 
ming the  current,  which  his  great  length  of  limb  and 
weight  enabled  him  to  do ;  the  dogs,  overwhelmed  in 
the  foam  of  the  rapids,  were  swept  down  toward  the 
fall,  in  spite  of  their  frantic  exertions  to  gain  the  bank. 
They  were  not  fifteen  feet  from  the  edge  of  the  fall, 
and  I  saw  them  spun  round  and  round  in  the  whirl- 
pools, being  hurried  toward  certain  destruction.  The 
poor  dogs  seemed  aware  of  the  danger,  and  made  the 
most  extraordinary  efforts  to  avoid  their  fate.  They 
were  my  two  favorites  of  the  pack,  and  I  screamed  out 
words  of  encouragement  to  them,  although  the  voice 
of  a  cannon  could  not  have  been  heard  among  the  roar 
of  waters.  They  had  nearly  gained  the  bank  on  the 
very  verge  of  the  fall,  when  a  few  tufts  of  lemon  grass 
concealed  them  from  my  view.  I  thought  they  were 
over,  and  I  could  not  restrain  a  cry  of  despair  at  their 
horrible  fate.  I  felt  sick  with  the  idea.  But  the  next 
moment  I  was  shouting  hurrah  !  they  are  all  right ; 
thank  goodness,  they  were  saved.  I  saw  them  strug- 
gling up  the  steep  bank,  through  the  same  lemon  grass, 


"Frenzy's"  Death.  149 

which  had  for  a  moment  obscured  their  fate.  They 
were  thoroughly  exhausted  and  half  drowned. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  elk  had  manfully  breasted  the 
rapids,  carefully  choosing  the  shallow  places ;  and  the 
whole  pack,  being  mad  with  excitement,  had  plunged 
into  the  water,  regardless  of  the  danger.  I  thought 
every  hound  would  have  been  lost.  For  an  instant 
they  looked  like  a  flock  of  ducks,  but  a  few  moments 
afterward  they  were  scattered  in  the  boiling  eddies, 
hurrying  with  fatal  speed  toward  the  dreadful  cataract. 
Poor  "  Phrenzy  !"  round  she  spun  in  the  giddy  vortex  ; 
nearer  and  nearer  she  approached  the  verge — her 
struggles  were  unavailing — over  she  went,  and  was  of 
course  never  heard  of  afterward. 

This  was  a  terrible  style  of  hunting  ;  rather  too  much 
so  to  be  pleasant. 

I  clambered  down  to  the  edge  of  the  river  just  in 
time  to  see  the  elk  climbing  as  nimbly  as  a  cat  up  the 
precipitous  bank  on  the  opposite  side,  threading  his 
way  at  a  slow  walk  under  the  overhanging  rocks,  and 
scrambling  up  the  steep  mountain  with  a  long  string 
of  hounds  at  his  heels  in  single  file.  "Valiant," 
"Tiptoe"  and  "Ploughboy"  were  close  to  him,  and  I 
counted  the  other  hounds  in  the  line,  fully  expecting  to 
miss  half  of  them.  To  my  surprise  and  delight,  only 
one  was  absent ;  this  was  poor  "  Phrenzy."  The 
others  had  all  managed  to  save  themselves.  I  now 
crossed  the  river  by  leaping  from  rock  to  rock  with 
some  difficulty,  and  with  hands  and  knees  I  climbed 
the  opposite  bank.  This  was  about  sixty  feet  high, 
from  the  top  of  which  the  mountain  commenced  its  as- 
cent, which,  though  very  precipitous,  was  so  covered 
with  long  lemon  grass  that  it  was  easy  enough  to 
13* 


150        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

climb.     I  looked  behind  me,  and  there  was  the  Tamby, 
all  right,  within  a  few  paces. 

The  elk  was  no  longer  in  sight,  and  the  roar  of  the 
water  was  so  great  that  it  was  impossible  to  hear  the 
hounds.  However,  I  determined  to  crawl  along  his 
track,  which  was  plainly  discernible,  the  high  grass  be- 
ing broken  into  a  regular  lane  which  skirted  the  preci- 
pice of  the  great  waterfall  in  the  direction  of  the  vil- 
lages. 

We  were  now  about  a  hundred  feet  above,  and  on 
one  side  of  the  great  fall,  looking  into  the  deep  chasm 
into  which  the  river  leapt,  forming  a  cloud  of  mist  be- 
low. The  lemon  grass  was  so  high  in  tufts  among  the 
rocks  that  we  could  not  see  a  foot  before  us,  and  we 
knew  not  whether  the  next  step  would  land  us  on  firm 
footing,  or  deposit  us  some  hundred  feet  below.  Clutch- 
ing fast  to  the  long  grass,  therefore,  we  crept  carefully 
on  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  now  climbing  the  face 
of  the  rocks,  now  descending  by  means  of  their  irregu- 
lar surfaces,  but  still  skirting  the  dark  gorge  down 
which  the  river  fell. 

At  length,  having  left  the  fall  some  considerable  dis- 
tance behind  us,  the  ear  was  somewhat  relieved  from 
the  bewildering  noise  of  water,  and  I  distinctly  heard 
the  pack  at  bay  not  very  far  in  advance.  In  another 
moment  I  saw  the  elk  standing  on  a  platform  of  rock 
about  a  hundred  yards  ahead,  on  a  lower  shelf  of  the 
mountain,  and  the  whole  pack  at  bay.  This  platform 
was  the  top  of  a  cliff  which  overhung  the  deep  gorge ; 
the  river  flowing  in  the  bottom  after  its  great  fall,  and 
both  the  elk  and  hounds  appeared  to  be  in  "a  fix." 
The  descent  had  been  made  to  this  point  by  leaping 
down  places  which  he  could  not  possibly  reascend,  and 


Buck  at  Bay.  151 

there  was  only  one  narrow  outlet,  which  was  covered 
by  the  hounds.  Should  he  charge  through  the  hounds 
to  force  this  passage,  half  a  dozen  of  them  must  be 
knocked  over  the  precipice. 

However,  I  carefully  descended,  and  soon  reached 
the  platform.  This  was  not  more  than  twenty  feet 
square,  and  it  looked  down  in  the  gorge  of  about  three 
hundred  feet.  The  first  seventy  of  this  depth  were 
perpendicular,  as  the  top  of  the  rock  overhung,  after 
which  the  side  of  the  cliff  was  marked  by  great  fissures 
and  natural  steps  formed  by  the  detachment  from  time 
to  time  of  masses  of  rock  which  had  fallen  into  the 
river  below.  Bushes  and  rank  grass  filled  the  inter- 
stices of  the  rocks,  and  an  old  deserted  water-course  lay 
exactly  beneath  the  platform,  being  cut  and  built  out 
of  the  side  of  the  cliff. 

It  was  a  magnificent  sight  in  such  grand  scenery  to 
see  the  buck  at  bay  when  we  arrived  upon  the  platform. 
He  was  a  dare-devil  fellow,  and  feared  neither  hounds 
nor  man,  every  now  and  then  charging  through  the 
pack,  and  coming  almost  within  reach  of  the  Tamby's 
spear.  It  was  a  difficult  thing  to  know  how  to  kill 
him.  I  was  afraid  to  go  in  at  him,  lest  in  his  struggles 
he  should  drag  the  hounds  over  the  precipice,  and  I 
would  not  cheer  the  seizers  on  for  the  same  reason. 
Indeed,  they  seemed  well  aware  of  the  danger,  and 
every  now  and  then  retreated  to  me,  as  though  to  in- 
duce the  elk  to  make  a  move  to  some  better  ground. 

However,  the  buck  very  soon  decided  the  question. 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  halloo  the  hounds  on,  and  to 
hamstring  the  elk,  to  prevent  him  from  nearing  the 
precipice  :  and,  giving  a  shout,  the  pack  rushed  at  him. 
Not  a  dog  could  touch  him  ;  he  was  too  quick  with 


152        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

his  horns  and  fore  feet.  He  made  a  dash  into  the  pack, 
and  then  regained  his  position  close  to  the  verge  of  the 
precipice.  He  then  turned  his  back  to  the  hounds, 
looked  down  over  the  edge,  and,  to  the  astonishment 
of  all,  plunged  into  the  abyss  below !  A  dull  crash 
sounded  from  beneath,  and  then  nothing  was  heard  but 
the  roaring  of  the  waters  as  before.  The  hounds 
looked  over  the  edge  and  yelled  with  a  mixture  of  fear 
and  despair.  Their  game  was  gone  ! 

By  making  a  circuit  of  about  half  a  mile  among  these 
frightful  precipices  and  gorges,  we  at  length  arrived  at 
the  foot  of  the  cliff  down  which  the  buck  had  leapt. 
Here  we  of  course  found  him  lying  dead,  as  he  had 
broken  most  of  his  bones.  He  w^s  in  very  fine  condi- 
tion ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  move  him  from  such  a 
spot.  I  therefore  cut  off  his  head,  as  his  antlers  were 
the  finest  that  I  have  ever  killed  before  or  since. 

To  regain  the  tent,  I  had  a  pull  for  it,  having  to 
descend  into  the  village  of  Perewelle,  and  then  to  re- 
ascend  the  opposite  mountain  of  three  thousand  feet ; 
but  even  this  I  thought  preferable  to  returning  in  cold 
blood  by  the  dangerous  route  I  had  come. 

Tugging  up  such  a  mountain  was  no  fun  after  a  hard 
morning's  work,  and  I  resolved  to  move  the  encamp- 
ment to  a  large  cave,  some  eight  hundred  feet  lower 
down  the  mountain.  Accordingly,  I  struck  the  tent, 
and  after  breakfast  we  took  up  our  quarters  in  a  cavern 
worthy  of  Robin  Hood.  This  had  been  formed  by  a 
couple  of  large  rocks  the  size  of  a  moderate  house, 
whrch  had  been  detached  from  the  overhanging  cliff 
above,  and  had  fallen  together.  There  was  a  smaller 
cavern  within,  which  made  a  capital  kennel ;  rather 
more  substantial  than  the  rickety  building  of  yesterday. 


Elk  Venison.  153 

Some  of  the  village  people,  hearing  that  the  buck 
was  killed  and  lying  in  the  old  water-course,  went  in  a 
gang  to  cut  him  up.  What  was  their  surprise  on 
reaching  the  spot  to  find  the  carcase  removed !  It  had 
evidently  been  dragged  along  the  water-course,  as  the 
trail  was  distinct  in  the  high  grass,  and  upon  following 
it  up,  away  went  two  fine  leopards,  bounding  along  the 
rocks  to  their  adjacent  cave.  They  had  consumed  a 
large  portion  of  the  flesh,  but  the  villagers  did  not  leave 
them  much  for  another  meal.  Skin,  hoofs,  and  in  fact 
every  vestige  of  an  elk,  is  consumed  by  these  people. 

For  my  own  part,  I  do  not  think  much  of  elk  venison, 
unless  it  be  very  fat,  which  is  rarely  the  case.  It  is  at 
all  times  more  like  beef  than  any  other  meat,  for  which 
it  is  a  very  good  substitute.  The  marrow-bones  are  the 
'•'•bonne  bouche"  being  peculiarly  rich  and  delicate. 
Few  animals  can  have  a  larger  proportion  of  marrow 
than  the  elk,  as  the  bones  are  more  hollow  than  those 
of  most  quadrupeds.  This  cylindrical  formation  en- 
ables them  to  sustain  the  severe  shocks  in  descending 
rough  mountains  at  full  speed.  It  is  perfectly  wonder- 
ful to  see  an  animal  of  near  six  hundred  pounds'  weight 
bounding  down  a  hillside,  over  rocks  and  ruts  and 
every  conceivable  difficulty  of  ground,  at  a  pace  which 
will  completely  distance  the  best  hound  ;  and  even  at 
this  desperate  speed,  the  elk  will  never  make  a  false 
step  ;  sure-footed  as  a  goat,  he  will  still  fly  on  through 
bogs,  ravines,  tangled  jungles  and  rocky  rivers,  ever 
certain  of  his  footing. 

The  foregoing  description  of  an  elk-hunt  will  give 
the  reader  a  good  idea  of  the  power  of  this  animal  in 
stemming  rapids  and  climbing  dangerous  precipices ; 
but  even  an  elk  is  not  proof  against  the  dangers  of  Fort 


154        Eight  Tears1  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

M'Donald  river,  an  example  of  which  we  had  on  the 
following  morning. 

The  hounds  found  a  doe  who  broke  cover  close  to 
me  in  a  small  patina  and  made  straight  running  for  the 
river.  She  had  no  sooner  reached  it  than  I  heard 
her  cry  out,  and  as  she  was  closely  followed  I  thought 
she  was  seized.  However,  the  whole  pack  shortly  re- 
turned, evidently  thrown  out,  and  I  began  to  abuse 
them  pretty  roundly,  thinking  that  they  had  lost  their 
game  in  the  river.  So  they  had,  but  in  an  excusable 
manner ;  the  poor  doe  had  been  washed  down  a  rapid, 
and  had  broken  her  thigh.  We  found  her  dead  under 
a  hollow  rock  in  the  middle  of  the  river. 

Here  we  had  a  fine  exemplification  of  the  danger  of 
the  mysterious  pools. 

While  I  was  opening  the  elk,  with  the  pack  all  round 
me  licking  their  lips  in  expectation,  old  u  Madcap"  was 
jostled  by  one  of  the  greyhounds,  and  slipped  into  a 
basin  among  the  rocks,  which  formed  an  edge  of  about 
two  feet  above  the  surface. 

The  opposite  side  of  the  pool  was  hemmed  in  by 
rocks  about  six  feet  high,  and  the  direction  of  the 
under-current  was  at  once  shown  by  poor  old  "  Mad- 
cap" being  swept  up  against  this  high  wall  of  rock, 
where  she  remained  paddling  with  all  her  might  in  an 
upright  position. 

I  saw  the  poor  beast  would  be  sucked  under,  and  yet 
I  could  not  save  her.  However,  I  did  my  best  at  the 
risk  of  falling  in  myself. 

I  took  off  my  handkerchief  and  made  a  slip-knot, 
and,  begging  Pelly  to  lie  down  on  the  top  of  the  rock, 
I  took  his  hand  while  I  clung  to  the  face  of  the  wall  as 
I  best  could  by  a  little  ledge  of  about  two  inches'  width. 


"Madcap's"  Dive.  155 

With  great  difficulty  I  succeeded  in  hooking  the  bitch's 
head  in  the  slip-knot,  but  in  my  awkward  position  I 
could  not  use  sufficient  strength  to  draw  her  out.  I 
could  only  support  her  head  above  the  water,  which  I 
could  distinctly  feel  was  drawing  her  from  me.  Pre- 
sently she  gave  a  convulsive  struggle,  which  freed  her 
head  from  the  loop,  and  in  an  instant  she  disappeared. 

I  could  not  help  going  round  the  rock  to  see  if  her 
body  should  be  washed  out  when  the  torrent  reappeared, 
when,  to  my  astonishment,  up  she  popped  all  right,  not 
being  more  than  half  drowned  by  her  subterranean  ex- 
cursion, and  we  soon  helped  her  safe  ashore.  Fortu- 
nately for  her,  the  passage  had  been  sufficiently  large  to 
pass  her,  although  I  have  no  doubt  a  man  would  have 
been  held  fast  and  drowned. 

There  was  so  much  water  in  the  river  that  I  deter- 
mined to  move  from  this  locality  as  too  dangerous  for 
hunting.  I  therefore  ordered  the  village  people  to  as- 
semble on  the  following  morning  to  carry  the  loads  and 
tent.  In  the  mean  time  I  sent  for  the  dead  elk. 

There  could  not  be  a  better  place  for  a  hunting-box 
than  that  cave.  We  soon  had  a  glorious  fire  roaring 
round  the  kennel-pot,  which,  having  been  well  scoured 
with  sand  and  water,  was  to  make  the  soup.  Such 
soup ! — shades  of  gourmands,  if  ye  only  smelt  that 
cookery  !  The  pot  held  six  gallons,  and  the  whole  elk, 
except  a  few  steaks,  was  cut  up  and  alternately  boiled 
down  in  sections.  The  flesh  was  then  cut  up  small  for 
the  pack,  the  marrow-bones  reserved  for  "  master," 
and  the  soup  was  then  boiled  until  it  had  evaporated 
to  the  quantity  required.  A  few  green  chilies,  onions 
in  slices  fried,  and  a  little  lime-juice,  salt,  black  pepper 
and  mushroom  ketchup,  and — in  fact,  there  is  no  use 


156        Eight  Tears   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

thinking  of  it,  as  the  soup  is  not  to  be  had  again.  The 
fire  crackled  and  blazed  as  the  logs  were  heaped  upon 
it  as  night  grew  near,  and  lit  up  all  the  nooks  and 
corners  of  the  old  cave.  Three  beds  in  a  row  con- 
tained three  sleepy  mortals.  The  hounds  snored  and 
growled,  and  then  snored  again.  The  servants  jab- 
bered, chewed  betel,  spit,  then  jabbered  a  little  more, 
and  at  last  everything  and  everybody  was  fast  asleep 
within  the  cave. 

The  next  morning  we  had  an  early  breakfast  and 
started,  the  village  people  marching  off  in  good  spirits 
with  the  loads.  I  was  now  en  route  for  Bertram's 
patinas,  which  lay  exactly  over  the  mountain  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  river.  This  being  perpendicular,  I 
was  obliged  to  make  a  great  circuit  by  keeping  the  old 
Newera  Ellia  path  along  the  river  for  two  or  three 
miles,  and  then,  turning  off  at  right  angles,  I  knew  an 
old  native  trace  over  the  ridge.  Altogether,  it  was  a 
round  of  about  six  miles,  although  the  patinas  were  not 
a  mile  from  the  cave  in  a  straight  line. 

The  path  in  fact  terminates  upon  the  high  peak, 
exactly  opposite  the  cave,  looking  down  upon  my 
hunting-ground  of  the  day  before,  and  on  the  othei 
side  the  ridge  lie  Bertram's  patinas. 

The  extreme  point  of  the  ridge  which  I  had  now 
gained  forms  one  end  of  a  horse-shoe  or  amphitheatre ; 
the  other  extremity  is  formed  by  a  high  mountain 
exactly  opposite,  at  about  two  miles'  distance.  The 
bend  of  the  horse-shoe  forms  a  circuit  of  about  six 
miles,  the  rim  of  which  is  a  wall  of  precipices  and 
steep  patina  mountains,  which  are  about  six  or  seven 
hundred  feet  above  the  basin  or  the  bottom  of  the 
amphitheatre.  The  tops  of  the  mountains  are  covered 


Former  Inundation.  157 

with  good  open  forest,  and  ribbon-like  strips  descend  to 
the  base.  Now  the  base  forms  an  uneven  shelf  of  great 
extent,  about  two  thousand  feet  above  the  villages. 
This  shelf  or  valley  appears  to  have  suffered  at  some 
remote  period  from  a  terrible  inundation.  Landslips 
of  great  size  and  innumerable  deep  gorges  and  ravines 
furrow  the  bottom  of  the  basin,  until  at  length  a  princi- 
pal fissure  carries  away  the  united  streams  to  the 
paddy-fields  below. 

The  cause  of  this  inundation  is  plain  enough.  The 
basin  has  been  the  receptacle  for  the  drainage  of  an  ex- 
tensive surface  of  mountain.  This  drainage  has  been 
effected  by  innumerable  small  torrents,  which  have 
united  in  one  general  channel  through  the  valley.  The 
exit  of  this  stream  is  through  a  narrow  gorge,  by  which 
it  descends  to  the  low  country.  During  the  period  of 
heavy  rains  a  landslip  has  evidently  choked  up  this 
passage,  and  the  exit  of  the  water  being  thus  obstructed, 
the  whole  area  of  the  valley  has  become  a  lake.  The 
accumulated  water  has  suddenly  burst  through  the  ob- 
struction and  swept  everything  before  it.  The  elk  are 
very  fond  of  lying  under  the  precipices  in  the  strips  of 
jungle  already  mentioned.  When  found,  they  are  ac- 
cordingly forced  to  take  to  the  open  country  and  come 
down  to  the  basin  below,  as  they  cannot  possibly  ascend 
the  mountain  except  by  one  or  two  remote  deer-runs. 
Thus  the  whole  hunt  from  the  find  to  the  death  is  gene- 
rally in  view. 

From  every  point  of  this  beautiful  locality  there  is  a 
boundless  and  unbroken  panorama  of  the  low  country. 

Unfortunately,  although  the  weather  was  perfectly 
fine,  it  was  the  windy  season,  and  a  gale  swept  across 
the  mountains  that  rendered  ears  of  little  use,  as  a 
14 


158       Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

hound's  voice  was  annihilated  in  such  a  hurricane. 
This  was  sadly  against  sport,  as  the  main  body  of  the 
pack  would  have  no  chance  of  joining  the  finding 
hound. 

However,  the  hounds  were  unkenneled  at  break  of 
day,  and,  the  tent  being  pitched  at  the  bottom  of  the 
basin,  we  commenced  a  pull  up  the  steep  patinas, 
hoping  to  find  somewhere  on  the  edge  of  the  jungles. 

"  There's  scent  to  a  certainty  ! — look  at  old  Blue- 
beard's nose  upon  the  ground  and  the  excited  wagging 
of  his  stern.  Ploughboy  notices  it — now  Gaylass — 
they'll  hit  it  off  presently  to  a  certainty,  though  it's  as 
cold  as  charity.  That  elk  was  feeding  here  early  in 
the  night ;  the  scent  is  four  hours  old  if  a  minute. 
There  they  go  into  the  jungle,  and  we  shall  lose  the 
elk,  ten  to  one,  as  not  another  hound  in  the  pack  will 
work  it  up.  It  can't  be  helped  ;  if  any  three  hounds 
will  rouse  him  out,  those  are  the  three." 

For  a  couple  of  hours  we  had  sat  behind  a  rock,_ 
sheltered  from  the  wind,  watching  the  immense  pros- 
pect before  us.     The  whole  pack  Were  lying  around  us 
except  the  three  missing  hounds,  of  whom  we  had  seen 
nothing  since  they  stole  away  upon  the  cold  scent. 

That  elk  must  have  gone  up  to  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tains after  feeding,  and  a  pretty  run  he  must  be  having, 
very  likely  off  to  Matturatta  plains ;  if  so,  good-bye  to 
all  sport  for  to-day,  and  the  best  hounds  will  be  dead 
tired  for  to-morrow. 

I  was  just  beginning  to  despair  when  I  observed  a 
fine  large  buck  at  about  half  a  mile  distance,  cantering 
easily  toward  us  across  an  extensive  flat  of  table-land. 
This  surface  was  a  fine  sward,  on  the  same  level  with 
the  point  upon  which  we  sat,  but  separated  from  us  by 


A  Buck  in  Doubt.  159 

two  small  wooded  ravines,  with  a  strip  of  patina  be- 
tween them.  I  at  once  surmised  that  this  was  the 
hunted  elk,  although,  as  yet,  no  hounds  were  visible. 

On  arrival  at  the  first  ravine  he  immediately  de- 
scended, and  shortly  after  he  reappeared  on  the  small 
patina  between  the  two  ravines,  within  three  hundred 
yards  of  us.  Here  the  strong  gale  gave  him  our  scent. 
It  was  a  beautiful  sight  to  see  him  halt  in  an  instant, 
and,  drawing  up  to  his  full  height,  snuff  the  warning 
breeze  and  wind  the  enemy  before  him. 

Just  at  this  moment  I  heard  old  "  Bluebeard's"  deep 
note  swelling  in  the  distance,  and  I  saw  him  leading 
across  the  table-land  as  true  as  gold  upon  the  track  ; 
"  Ploughboy"  and  "  Gaylass"  were  both  with  him,  but 
they  were  running  mute. 

The  buck  heard  the  hounds  as  well  as  we  did,  and  I 
was  afraid  that  the  whole  pack  would  also  catch  the 
sound,  and,  by  hurrying  toward  it,  would  head  the  elk 
and  turn  him  from  his  coui'se.  Up  to  the  present  time 
they  had  not  observed  him. 

Still  the  buck  stood  in  an  attitude  of  acute  suspense. 
He  winded  an  enemy  before  him,  and  he  heard  an- 
other behind,  which  was  rapidly  closing  up,  and,  as 
though  doubting  his  own  power  of  scent,  he  gave  pref- 
erence to  that  of  hearing,  and  gallantly  continued  his 
course  and  entered  the  second  ravine  just  beneath  our 
feet. 

I  immediately  jumped  up,  and,  exciting  the  hounds 
in  a  subdued  voice,  I  waved  my  cap  at  the  spot,  and 
directed  a  native  to  run  at  full  speed  to  the  jungle  to 
endeavor  to  meet  the  elk,  as  I  knew  the  hounds  would 
then  follow  him.  This  they  did  ;  and  they  all  entered 
the  jungle  with  the  man  except  the  three  greyhounds, 


160        Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

"  Lucifer,"  "  Bran"  and  "  Hecate,"  who  remained  with 
me. 

A  short  time  passed  in  breathless  suspense,  during 
which  the  voices  of  the  three  following  hounds  rapidly 
approached  as  they  steadily  persevered  in  the  long 
chase  ;  when  suddenly,  as  I  had  expected,  the  main 
body  of  the  pack  met  the  elk  in  the  strip  of  jungle. 

Joyful  must  have  been  the  burst  of  music  to  the  ears 
of  old  "  Bluebeard"  after  his  long  run.  Out  crashed 
the  buck  upon  the  patinas  near  the  spot  where  the  pack 
had  entered,  and  away  he  went  over  the  grassy  hills  at 
a  pace  which  soon  left  the  hounds  behind.  The  grey- 
hounds will  stretch  his  legs  for  him.  Yo-i-ck  to  him, 
Lucifer !  For-r-r-ard  to  him,  Hecate  ! 

Off  dashed  the  three  greyhounds  from  my  side  at  a 
railway  pace,  but,  as  the  buck  was  above  them  and  had 
a  start  of  about  two  hundred  yards,  in  such  an  uphill 
race  both  Bran  and  Lucifer  managed  to  lose  sight  of 
him  in  the  undulations. 

Now  was  the  time  for  Hecate's  enormous  power  of 
loin  and  thigh  to  tell,  and,  never  losing  a  moment's 
view  of  her  game,  she  sped  up  the  steep  mountain  side 
and  was  soon  after  seen  within  fifty  yards  of  the  buck 
all  alone,  but  going  like  a  rocket. 

Now  she  has  turned  him  !  that  pace  could  not  last 
up  hill,  and  round  the  elk  doubled  arid  came  flying 
down  the  mountain  side. 

From  the  point  of  the  hill  upon  which  we  stood  we 
had  a  splendid  view  of  the  course  ;  the  bitch  gained 
upon  him  at  every  bound,  and  there  was  a  pitiless  dash 
in  her  style  of  going  that  boded  little  mercy  to  her 
game.  What  alarmed  me,  however,  was  the  direction 
that  the  buck  was  taking.  An  abrupt  precipice  of 


Danger  Ahead.  161 

about  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  was  lying  exactly  in 
his  path  ;  this  sunk  sheer  down  to  a  lower  series  of 
grass-lands. 

At  the  tremendous  pace  at  which  they  were  going 
I  feared  lest  their  own  impetus  should  carry  both  elk 
and  dog  to  destruction  before  they  could  see  the  danger. 

Down  they  flew  with  unabated  speed ;  they  neared 
the  precipice,  and  a  few  more  seconds  would  bring  them 
to  the  verge. 

The  stride  of  the  buck  was  no  match  for  the  bound 
of  the  greyhound  :  the  bitch  was  at  his  flanks,  and  he 
pressed  along  at  flying  speed. 

He  was  close  to  the  danger  and  it  was  still  unseen : 
a  moment  more  and  "  Hecate"  sprang  at  his  ear.  For- 
tunately she  lost  her  hold  as  the  ear  split.  This  check 
saved  her.  I  shouted,  "  He'll  be  over !"  and  the  next 
instant  he  was  flying  through  the  air  to  headlong  de- 
struction. 

Bounding  from  a  projecting  rock  upon  which  he 
struck,  he  flew  outward,  and  with  frightfully  increasing 
momentum  he  spun  round  and  round  in  his  descent, 
until  the  centrifugal  motion  drew  out  his  legs  and  neck 
as  straight  as  a  line.  A  few  seconds  of  this  multiply- 
ing velocity  and — crash  ! 

It  was  all  over.  The  bitch  had  pulled  up  on  the 
very  brink  of  the  precipice,  but  it  was  a  narrow  escape. 

Sportsmen  are  contradictory  creatures.  If  that  buck 
had  come  to  bay,  I  should  have  known  no  better  sport 
than  going  in  at  him  with  the  knife  to  the  assistance 
of  the  pack  ;  but  I  now  felt  a  great  amount  of  compas- 
sion for  the  poor  brute  who  had  met  so  terrible  a  fate. 
It  did  not  seem  fair ;  and  yet  I  would  not  have  missed 
such  a  sight  for  anything.  Nothing  can  be  conceived 
14 »  L 


1 62        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

more  terribly  grand  than  the  rush  of  so  large  an  animal 
through  the  air  ;  and  it  was  a  curious  circumstance 
that  within  a  few  days  no  less  than  two  bucks  had  gone 
over  precipices,  although  I  had  never  witnessed  such 
an  accident  more  than  once  before. 

Upon  reaching  the  fatal  spot,  I,  of  course,  found  him 
lying  stone  dead.  He  had  fallen  at  least  two  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  to  the  base  of  the  precipice ;  and  the 
ground  being  covered  with  detached  fragments  of  rock, 
he  had  broken  most  of  his  bones,  beside  bursting  his 
paunch  and  smashing  in  the  face.  However,  we  cut 
him  up  and  cleaned  him,  and,  with  the  native  follow- 
ers heavily  laden,  we  reached  the  tent. 

The  following  morning  I  killed  another  fine  buck 
after  a  good  run  on  the  patinas,  where  he  was  coursed 
and  pulled  down  by  the  greyhounds  ;  but  the  wind  was 
so  very  high  that  it  destroyed  the  pleasure  of  hunting. 
I  therefore  determined  on  another  move — to  the  Mattu- 
ratta  Plains,  within  three  miles  of  my  present  hunting- 
ground. 

After  hunting  four  days  at  the  Matturatta  Plains,  I 
moved  on  to  the  Elephant  Plains,  and  from  thence  re- 
turned home  after  twelve  days'  absence,  having  killed 
twelve  elk  and  two  red  deer. 

The  animal  known  as  the  "  red  deer"  in  Ceylon  is  a 
very  different  creature  to  his  splendid  namesake  in 
Scotland  ;  he  is  particularly  unlike  a  deer  in  the  dispro- 
portionate size  of  his  carcase  to  his  length  of  leg.  He 
stands  about  twenty-six  inches  high  at  the  shoulder  and 
weighs  (live  weight)  from  forty-five  to  fifty  pounds. 
He  has  two  sharp  tusks  in  the  upper  jaw,  projecting 
about  an  inch  and  a  half  from  the  gum.  These  are 
exactly  like  the  lower-jaw  tusks  of  a  boar,  but  they 


The  "Mouse  Deer."  163 

incline  in  the  contrary  direction,  viz.,  downward,  and 
they  are  used  as  weapons  of  defence. 

The  horns  of  the  red  deer  seldom  exceed  eight 
inches  in  Vength,  and  have  no  .more  than  two  points 
upon  each  antler,  formed  by  a  fork-like  termination. 
This  kind  of  deer  has  no  brow  antler.  They  are  very 
fast,  and  excel  especially  in  going  up  hill,  in  which 
ground  they  frequently  escape  from  the  best  grey- 
hounds. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  red-deer  venison  is  the 
best  in  Ceylon,  but  the  animal  itself  is  not  generally 
sought  after  for  sport.  He  gives  a  most  uninteresting 
run  ;  never  going  straight  away  like  a  deer,  but  doub- 
ling about  over  fifty  acres  of  ground  like  a  hare,  until 
he  is  at  last  run  into  and  killed.  They  exist  in  extraor- 
dinary numbers  throughout  every  portion  of  Ceylon, 
but  are  never  seen  in  herds. 

Next  to  the  red  deer  is  the  still  more  tiny  species, 
the  "  mouse  deer."  This  animal  seldom  exceeds  twelve 
inches  in  height,  and  has  the  same  characteristic  as  the 
red  deer  in  the  heavy  proportion  of  body  to  its  small 
length  of  limb.  The  skin  is  a  mottled  ash-gray,  cov- 
ered with  dark  spots.  The  upper  jaw  is  furnished  with 
sharp  tusks  similar  to  the  red  deer,  but  the  head  is  free 
from  horns. 

The  skull  is  perfectly  unlike  the  head  of  a  deer,  and 
is  closely  allied  to  the  rat,  which  it  would  exactly  re- 
semble, were  it  not  for  the  difference  in  the  teeth.  The 
mouse  deer  lives  principally  upon  berries  and  fruits ; 
but  I  have  seldom  found  much  herbage  upon  examina- 
tion of  the'  paunch.  Some  people  consider  the  flesh 
very  good,  but  my  ideas  perhaps  give  it  a  "ratty" 
flavor  that  makes  it  unpalatable. 


164        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

These  little  deer  make  for  some  well-known  retreat 
the  moment  that  they  are  disturbed  by  dogs,  and  they 
are  usually  found  after  a  short  run  safely  ensconced  in 
a  hollow  tree. 

It  is  a  very  singular  thing  that  none  of  the  deer  tribe 
in  Ceylon  have  more  than  six  points  on  their  horns, 
viz.,  three  upon  each.  These  are,  the  brow-antler 
point,  and  the  two  points  which  form  the  extremity  of 
each  horn.  I  have  seen  them  occasionally  with  more, 
but  these  were  deformities  in  the  antlers. 

A  strapger  is  always  disappointed  in  a  Ceylon  elk's 
antlers ;  and  very  naturally,  for  they  are  quite  out  of 
proportion  to  the  great  size  of  the  animal.  A  very 
large  Scotch  red  deer  in  not  more  than  two-thirds  the 
size  of  a  moderately  fine  elk,  and  yet  he  carries  a  head 
of  horns  that  are  infinitely  larger. 

In  fact,  so  rare  are  fine  antlers  in  Ceylon  that  I  could 
not  pick  out  more  than  a  dozen  of  really  handsome  elk 
horns  out  of  the  great  numbers  that  I  have  killed. 

A  handsome  pair  of  antlers  is  a  grand  addition  to 
the  beauty  of  a  fine  buck,  and  gives  a  majesty  to  his 
bearing  which  is  greatly  missed  when  a  fine  animal 
breaks  cover  with  only  a  puny  pair  of  horns.  There 
is  as  great  a  difference  in  his  appearance  as  there  would 
be  in  a  life-guardsman  in  full  uniform  or  in  his  shirt. 

The  antlers  of  the  axis,  or  spotted  deer,  are  generally 
longer  than  those  of  the  elk  ;  they  are  also  more  slender 
and  graceful.  Altogether,  the  spotted  deer  is  about  the 
handsomest  of  that  beautiful  tribe.  A  fine  spotted  stag 
is  the  perfection  of  elegance,  color,  strength,  courage 
and  speed.  He  has  a  proud  and  thorough-bred  way  of 
carrying  his  head,  which  is  set  upon  his  neck  with  a 
peculiar  grace.  Nothing  can  surpass  the  beauty  of  his 


Average  Weight  of  Ceylon  Deer.  165 

full  black  eye.  His  hide  is  as  sleek  as  satin — a  rich 
brown,  slightly  tinged  with  red,  and  spotted  as  though 
mottled  with  flakes  of  snow.  His  weight  is  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds  (alive). 

It  is  a  difficult  thing  to  judge  of  a  deer's  weight  with 
any  great  accuracy  ;  but  I  do  not  think  I  am  far  out  in 
my  estimation  of  the  average,  as  I  once  tried  the  ex- 
periment by  weighing  a  dead  elk.  I  had  always  con- 
sidered that  a  mountain  elk,  which  is  smaller  than  those 
of  the  low  country,  weighed  about  four  hundred  pounds 
when  cleaned,  or  five  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  live 
weight.  I  happened  one  day  to  kill  an  average-sized 
buck,  though  with  very  small  horns,  close  to  the  road ; 
so,  having  cleaned  him,  I  sent  a  cart  for  his  carcase  on 
my  return  home.  This  elk  I  weighed  whole,  minus 
his  inside,  and  he  was  four  hundred  and  eleven  pounds. 
Many  hours  had  elapsed  since  his  death,  so  that  the 
carcase  must  have  lost  much  weight  by  drying ;  this, 
with  the  loss  of  blood  and  offal,  must  have  been  at  least 
one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  which  would  have  made 
his  live  weight  five  hundred  and  sixty-one  pounds. 

Of  the  five  different  species  of  deer  in  Ceylon,  the 
spotted  deer  is  alone  seen  upon  the  plains.  No  climate 
can  be  too  hot  for  his  exotic  constitution,  and  he  is 
never  found  at  a  higher  elevation  than  three  thousand 
feet.  In  the  low  country,  when  the  midday  sun  has 
driven  every  other  beast  to  the  shelter  of  the  densest 
jungles,  the  sultan  of  the  herd  and  his  lovely  mates  are 
sometimes  contented  with  the  shade  of  an  isolated  tree 
or  the  simple  border  of  the  jungle,  where  they  drowsily 
pass  the  day,  flapping  their  long  ears  in  listless  idleness 
until  the  hotter  hours  have  passed  away.  At  about 
four  in  the  afternoon  they  stroll  upon  the  open  plains, 


1 66       Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

bucks,  does  and  fawns,  in  beautiful  herds ;  when  un- 
disturbed, as  many  as  a  hundred  together.  This  is  the 
only  species  of  deer  in  Ceylon  that  is  gregarious. 

Neither  the  spotted  deer,  nor  the  bear  or  buffalo,  is 
to  be  found  at  Newera  Ellia.  The  axis  and  the  buffalo, 
being  the  usual  denizens  of  the  hottest  countries,  are 
not  to  be  expected  to  exist  in  their  natural  state  in  so 
low  a  temperature ;  but  it  is  extraordinary  that  the 
bear,  who  in  most  countries  inhabits  the  mountains, 
should  in  Ceylon  adhere  exclusively  to  the  low  country. 

The  Ceylon  bear  is  of  that  species  which  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  Zoological  Gardens  as  the  "  sloth  bear ;"  an 
ill-bred-looking  fellow  with  a  long-haired  black  coat 
and  a  gray  face. 

A  Ceylon  bear's  skin  is  not  worth  preserving ;  there 
is  no  fur  upon  it,  but  it  simply  consists  of  rather  a 
stingy  allowance  of  black  hairs.  This  is  the  natural 
effect  of  his  perpetual  residence  in  a  hot  country,  where 
his  coat  adapts  itself  to  the  climate.  He  is  desperately 
savage,  and  is  more  feared  by  the  natives  than  any 
other  animal,  as  he  is  in  the  constant  habit  of  attacking 
people  without  the  slightest  provocation.  His  mode  of 
attack  increases  the  danger,  as  there  is  a  great  want  of 
fair  play  in  his  method  of  fighting.  Lying  in  wait, 
either  behind  a  rock  or  in  a  thick  bush,  he  makes  a 
sudden  spring  upon  the  unwary  wanderer,  and  in  a 
moment  he  attacks  his  face  with  teeth  and  claws.  The 
latter  are  about  two  inches  long,  and  the  former  are 
much  larger  than  a  leopard's ;  hence  it  may  easily  be 
imagined  how  even  a  few  seconds  of  biting  and  claw- 
ing might  alter  the  most  handsome  expression  of  coun- 
tenance. 

Bears   have   frequently  been   known   to   tear   off'  a 


Variety  of  Vermin — Trials  for  Hounds.     167 

mr.n's  face  like  a  mask,  leaving  nothing  but  the  face  of 
a  skull. 

Thus  the  quadrupeds  of  Newera  Ellia  and  the  adja- 
cent highlands  are  confined  to  the  following  classes : 
the  elephant,  the  hog,  the  leopard,  the  chetah,  the  elk, 
the  red  deer,  the  mouse  deer,  the  hare,  the  otter,  the 
jackal,  the  civet  cat,  the  mongoose  and  two  others 
(varieties  of  the  species),  the  black  squirrel,  the  gray 
squirrel,  the  wanderoo  monkey  (the  largest  species  in 
Ceylon),  the  porcupine,  and  a  great  variety  of  the  sat. 

Imagine  the  difficulty  of  breaking  in  a  young  hound 
for  elk-hunting  when  the  jungles  are  swarming  with 
such  a  list  of  vermin  !  The  better  the  pup  the  more  he 
will  persevere  in  hunting  everything  that  he  can  possi- 
bly find  ;  and  with  such  a  variety  of  animals,  some  of 
which  have  the  most  enticing  scent,  it  is  a  source  of 
endless  trouble  in  teaching  a  young  hound  what  to 
hunt  and  what  to  avoid. 

It  is  curious  to  witness  the  sagacity  of  the  old 
hounds  in  joining  or  despising  the  opening  note  of  a 
new-comer. 

The  jungles  are  fearfully  thick,  and  it  requires  great 
exertion  on  the  part  of  the  dog  to  force  his  way  through 
at  a  pace  that  will  enable  him  to  join  the  finding  hound  ; 
thus  he  feels  considerable  disappointment  if  upon  his 
arrival  he  finds  the  scent  of  a  monkey  or  a  cat  instead 
of  his  legitimate  game.  An  old  hound  soon  marks  the 
inexperienced  voice  of  the  babbler,  and  after  the  cry  of 
"  wolf"  has  been  again  repeated,  nothing  will  induce 
him  to  join  the  false  finder. 

Again,  it  is  exceedingly  interesting  to  observe  the 
quickness  of  all  hounds  in  acknowledging  their  leader. 
Only  let  them  catch  the  sound  of  old  "  Bluebeard's" 


168        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

voice,  and  see  the  dash  with  which  they  rush  through 
the  jungle  to  join  him.  They  know  the  old  fellow's 
note  is  true  to  an  elk  or  hog,  and,  with  implicit  confi- 
dence in  his  "  find,"  they  never  hesitate  to  join. 

There  are  numerous  obstacles  to  the  breaking  and 
training  of  dogs  of  all  kinds  in  such  a  country.  A 
hound  when  once  in  the  jungle  is  his  own  master.  He 
obeys  the  sound  of  the  halloo  or  the  horn,  or  not,  as  he 
thinks  proper.  It  is  impossible  to  correct  him,  as  he  is 
outt)f  sight. 

Now,  the  very  fact  of  having  one  or  two  first-ratt 
finders  in  a  pack  will  very  likely  be  the  cause  of  spoil- 
ing the  other  hounds.  After  repeated  experience  their 
instinct  soon  shows  them  that,  no  matter  how  the  whole 
pack  may  individually  hunt,  the  "find"  will  be  achieved 
by  one  of  the  first-rate  hounds,  and  gradually  they  give 
up  hunting  and  take  to  listening  for  the  opening  note 
of  the  favorite.  Of  course  in  an  open  country  they 
would  be  kept  to  their  work  by  the  whip,  but  at 
Newera  Ellia  this  is  impossible.  This  accounts  for 
the  extreme  paucity  of  first-rate  "finders." 

Hunting  in  a  wild  country  is  a  far  more  difficult 
task  for  hounds  than  the  ordinary  chase  at  home. 
Wherever  a  country  is  cultivated  it  must  be  enclosed. 
Thus,  should  a  flock  of  sheep  have  thrown  the  hounds 
out  by  crossing  the  scent,  a  cast  round  the  fences  must 
soon  hit  it  off  again  if  the  fox  has  left  the  field.  But  in 
elk-hunting  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  assist  the  hounds  ; 
a  dozen  different  animals,  or  even  a  disturbed  elk,  may 
cross  the  scent  in  parts  of  the  jungle  where  the  cry  of 
the  hounds  is  even  out  of  hearing.  Again,  an  elk  has 
a  constant  habit  of  running  or  swimming  down  a  river, 
his  instinct  prompting  him  to  drown  his  own  scent,  and 


Training  Hounds.  169 

thus  throw  off  his  pursuers.  Here  is  a  trial  for  the 
hounds  ! — the  elk  has  waded  or  swum  down  the  stream, 
and  the  baffled  pack  arrive  upon  the  bank  ;  their  cheer- 
ing music  has  ceased  ;  the  elk  has  kept  the  water  for 
perhaps  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  or  he  may  have  landed 
several  times  during  that  distance  and  again  have  taken 
to  water. 

Now  the  young  hounds  dash  thoughtlessly  across  the 
river,  thinking  of  nothing  but  a  straight  course,  and 
they  are  thrown  out  on  the  barren  bank  on  the  other 
side.  Back  they  come  again,  wind  about  the  last  track 
for  a  few  minutes,  and  then  they  are  forced  to  give  it 
up — they  are  thrown  out  altogether. 

Mark  the  staunch  old  hounds ! — one  has  crossed  the 
river ;  there  is  no  scent,  but  he  strikes  down  the  bank 
with  his  nose  close  to  the  ground,  and  away  he  goes 
along  the  edge  of  the  river  casting  for  a  scent.  Now 
mark  old  "  Bluebeard,"  swimming  steadily  down  the 
stream  ;  he  knows  the  habits  of  his  game  as  well  as  I 
do,  and  two  to  one  that  he  will  find,  although  "Plough- 
boy"  has  just  started  along  the  near  bank  ;  so  that  both 
sides  of  the  river  are  being  hunted. 

Now  this  is  what  I  call  difficult  hunting  ;  bad  enough 
if  the  huntsman  be  up  to  assist  his  hounds,  but  nine 
times  out  of  ten  this  happens  in  the  middle  of  a  run, 
without  a  soul  within  a  mile. 

The  only  way  to  train  hounds  in  this  style  of  country 
is  to  accustom  them  to  complete  obedience  from  puppy- 
hood.  ,  This  is  easily  effected  by  taking  them  out  for 
exercise  upon  a  road  coupled  to  old  hounds.  A  good 
walk  every  morning,  accompanied  by  the  horn  and  the 
whip,  and  they  soon  fall  into  such  a  habit  of  obedience 
that  they  may  be  taken  out  without  the  couples. 
15 


170       Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

The  great  desideratum,  then,  is  to  gain  their  affection 
and  confidence,  otherwise  they  will  obey  upon  the  road 
and  laugh  at  you  when  in  the  jungle.  Now  "  affection" 
is  a  difficult  feeling  to  instill  into  a  foxhound,  and  can 
only  be  partially  attained  by  the  exercise  of  cupboard 
love ;  thus  a  few  pieces  of  dry  liver  or  bread,  kept  in 
the  pocket  to  be  given  to  a  young  hound  who  has 
sharply  answered  to  his  call,  will  do  more  good  than  a 
month  of  scolding  and  rating. 

"  Confidence,"  or  the  want  of  it,  in  a  hound  depends 
entirely  upon  the  character  of  his  master.  There  is  an 
old  adage  of  "like  master,  like  man;"  and  this  is 
strongly  displayed  in  the  hound.  The  very  best  seizer 
would  be  spoiled  if  his  master  were  a  leetle  slow  in 
going  in  with  the  knife  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  dogs 
naturally  shy  of  danger  turn  into  good  seizers  where 
their  master  invariably  leads  them  in. 

Not  only  is  their  confidence  required  and  gained  at 
these  times,  but  they  learn  to  place  implicit  reliance 
upon  their  master's  knowledge  of  hunting,  in  the  same 
manner  that  they  acknowledge  the  superiority  of  a  par- 
ticular hound.  This  induces  them  to  obey  beyond  any 
method  of  training,  as  they  feel  a  certain  dependence 
upon  the  man,  and  they  answer  his  halloo  or  the  horn 
without  a  moment's  hesitation. 

Nothing  is  so  likely  to  destroy  the  character  of  a  pack 
as  a  certain  amount  of  laziness  or  incapacity  upon  the 
master's  part  in  following  them  up.  This  is  natural 
enough,  as  the  best  hounds,  if  repeatedly  left  unassisted 
for  hours  when  at  bay  with  their  game  until  they  are 
regularly  beaten  off,  will  lose  their  relish  for  the  sport. 
On  the  other  hand,  perseverance  on  the  huntsman'b 
part  will  ensure  a  corresponding  amount  in  the  hounds ; 


A   Sportsman  "Shut  Up."  171 

they  will  become  so  accustomed  to  the  certain  appear- 
ance of  their  master  at  the  bay  at  some  time  or  other 
that  they  will  stick  to  their  game  till  night.  I  have 
frequently  killed  elk  at  two  or  three  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon that  have  been  found  at  six  in  the  morning. 
Sometimes  I  have  killed  them  even  later  than  this  when, 
after  wandering  fruitlessly  the  whole  day  in  every  di- 
rection but  the  right  one,  my  ears  have  at  length  been 
gladdened  by  the  distant  sound  of  the  bay.  The  par- 
ticular moment  when  hope  and  certainty  combined  re- 
ward the  day's  toil  is  the  very  quintessence  of  joy  and 
delight.  Nothing  in  the  shape  of  enjoyment  can  come 
near  it.  What  a  strange  power  has  that  helpless-look- 
ing mass — the  brain  !  One  moment,  and  the  limbs  are 
fagged,  the  shins  are  tender  with  breaking  all  day 
through  the  densest  jungles,  the  feet  are  worn  with  un- 
requited labor,  and — hark  !  The  bay  !  no  doubt  of  it — 
the  bay !  There  is  the  magic  spell  which,  acting  on 
the  brain,  flies  through  every  nerve.  New  legs,  new 
feet,  new  everything,  in  a  moment !  fresh  as  though 
just  out  of  bed  ;  here  we  go  tearing  through  the  jungle 
like  a  buffalo,  and  as  happy  as  though  we  had  just 
come  in  for  a  fortune — happier,  a  great  deal. 

Nevertheless,  elk-hunting  is  not  a  general  taste,  as 
people  have  not  opportunities  of  enjoying  it  constantly. 
Accordingly,  they  are  out  of  condition,  and  soon  be- 
come distressed  and  of  necessity  "  shut  up"  (a  vulgar 
but  expressive  term).  This  must  be  fine  fun  for  a  total 
stranger  rather  inclined  to  corpulency,  who  has  daunt- 
lessly  persevered  in  keeping  up  with  the  huntsman, 
although  at  some  personal  inconvenience.  There  is  a 
limit  to  all  endurance,  and  he  is  obliged  to  stop,  quite 
blown,  completely  done.  He  loses  all  sounds  of  hounds 


172        Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

and  huntsman,  and  everything  connected  with  the  hunt. 
Where  is  he?  How  horrible  the  idea  that  flashes 
across  his  mind  !  he  has  no  idea  where  he  is,  except 
that  he  is  quite  certain  that  he  is  in  some  jungle  in 
Ceylon. 

Distraction  !  Ceylon  is  nearly  all  jungle,  two  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  long,  and  he  is  in  this — somewhere. 
He  tries  to  recollect  by  what  route  he  has  come  ;  im- 
possible !  He  has  been  up  one  mountain,  <md  then  he 
turned  to  the  right,  and  got  into  a  ravine  ;  he  recollects 
the  ravine,  for  he  fell  on  his  head  with  the  end  of  a 
dead  stick  in  his  stomach  just  as  he  got  to  the  bottom  ; 
he  forgets  every  other  part  of  his  route,  simply  having 
an  idea  that  he  went  down  a  great  many  ravines  and 
up  a  number  of  hills,  and  turned  to  the  right  and  left 
several  times.  He  gives  it  up  ;  he  finds  himself  "  lost," 
and,  if  he  is  sensible,  he  will  sit  down  and  wait  till 
some  one  comes  to  look  for  him,  when  he  will  start 
with  joy  at  the  glad  sound  of  the  horn.  But  should  he 
attempt  to  find  his  way  alone  through  those  pathless 
jungles,  he  will  only  increase  his  distance  from  the 
right  course. 

One  great  peculiarity  in  Newera  Ellia  is  the  com- 
parative freedom  from  poisonous  vermin.  There  are 
three  varieties  of  snakes,  only  one  of  which  is  hurtful, 
and  all  are  very  minute.  The  venomous  species  is  the 
"  carrawelle,"  whose  bite  is  ~  generally  fatal ;  but  this 
snake  is  not  often  met  with.  There  are  no  ticks,  nor 
bugs,  nor  leeches,  nor  scorpions,  nor  white  ants,  nor 
wasps,  nor  mosquitoes  ;  in  fact,  there  is  nothing  venom- 
ous except  the  snake  alluded  to,  and  a  small  species  of 
centipede.  Fleas  there  are  certainly — indeed,  a  fair 


Vermin  in  Ceylon.  173 

sprinkling  of  fleas ;  but  they  are  not  troublesome,  ex- 
cept in  houses  which  are  unoccupied  during  a  portion 
of  the  year.  This  is  a  great  peculiarity  of  a  Ceylon 
flea — he  is  a  great  colonist ;  and  should  a  house  be 
untenanted  for  a  few  months,  so  sure  will  it  swarm  with 
these  "  settlers."  Even  a  grass  hut  built  for  a  night's 
bivouac  in  the  jungle,  without  a  flea  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, will  literally  swarm  with  them  if  deserted  for  a 
couple  of  months.  Fleas  have  a  great  fancy  for  set- 
tling upon  anything  white  ;  thus  a  person  with  white 
trowsers  will  be  blackened  with  them,  while  a  man  in 
darker  colors  will  be  comparatively  free.  I  at  first 
supposed  that  they  appeared  in  larger  numbers  on  the 
white  ground  because  they  were  more  easily  distin- 
guished ;  but  I  tried  the  experiment  of  putting  a  sheet 
of  writing-paper  and  a  piece  of  brown  talipot  leaf  in 
the  midst  of  fleas ;  the  paper  was  covered  with  them, 
while  only  two  or  three  were  on  the  talipot. 

The  bite  of  the  small  species  of  centipede  alluded  to 
is  not  very  severe,  being  about  equivalent  to  a  wasp's 
sting.  I  have  been  bitten  myself,  and  I  have  seen 
another  person  suffering  from  the  bite,  which  was  ludi- 
crous enough. 

The  sufferer  was  Corporal  Phinn,  of  H.M.  Fifteenth 
Regiment.  At  that  time  he  was  one  of  Lieutenant  de 
Montenach's  servants,  and  accompanied  his  master  on 
a  hunting-trip  to  the  Horton  Plains. 

Now  Phinn  was  of  course  an  Irishman  ;  an  excellent 
fellow,  a  dead  hand  at  tramping  a  bog  and  killing  a 
snipe,  but  (without  the  slightest  intention  of  impugning 
his  veracity)  Phinn's  ideality  was  largely  developed. 
He  was  never  by  himself  for  five  minutes  in  the  jungle 
without  having  seen  something  wonderful  before  his 
15* 


1 74        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

return  ;  this  he  was  sure  to  relate  in  a  rich  brogue  with 
great  facetiousness. 

However,  we  had  just  finished  dinner  one  night,  and 
Phinn  had  then  taken  his  master's  vacant  place  (there 
being  only  one  room)  to  commence  his  own  meal, 
when  up  he  jumped  like  a  madman,  spluttering  the 
food  out  of  his  mouth,  and  shouting  and  skipping 
about  the  room  with  both  hands  clutched  tightly  to  the 
hinder  part  of  his  inexpressibles.  "Oh,  by  Jasus ! 
help,  sir,  help !  I've  a  reptile  or  some  divil  up  my 
breeches  !  Oh  !  bad  luck  to  him,  he's  biting  me  !  Oh  ! 
oh  !  it's  sure  a  sarpint  that's  stinging  me  !  quick,  sir,  or 
he'll  be  the  death  o'  me  !" 

Phinn  was  frantic,  and  upon  lowering  his  inexpress- 
ibles we  found  the  centipede  about  four  inches  long 
which  had  bitten  him.  A  little  brandy  rubbed  on  the 
part  soon  relieved  the  pain. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

OBSERVATIONS  ON  NATURE  IN  THE  TROPICS THE  DUNG  BEETLE 

THE     MASON      FLY — SPIDERS — LUMINOUS      INSECTS — EF- 
FORTS  OF   A   NATURALIST — DOGS    WORRIED    BY   LEECHES 

TROPICAL     DISEASES — MALARIA CAUSES    OF    INFECTION 

DISAPPEARANCE    OF    THE     "  MINA" — POISONOUS    WATER 

WELL-DIGGING  ELEPHANTS. 

HOW  little  can  the  inhabitant  of  a  cold  or  temper- 
ate climate  appreciate  the  vast  amount  of  "life" 
in  a  tropical  country !  The  combined  action  of  light, 
heat  and  moisture  calls  into  existence  myriads  of 
creeping  things,  the  offspring  of  the  decay  of  vegeta- 
tion. "  Life"  appears  to  emanate  from  "  death" — the 
destruction  of  one  material  seems  to  multify  the  exist- 
ence of  another — the  whole  surface  of  the  earth  seems 
busied  in  one  vast  system  of  giving  birth. 

An  animal  dies — a  solitary  beast — and  before  his  unit 
life  has  vanished  for  one  week,  how  many  millions  of 
living  creatures  owe  their  birth  to  his  death?  What 
countless  swarms  of  insects  have  risen  from  that  one 
carcase ! — creatures  which  never  could  have  been 
brought  into  existence  were  it  not  for  the  presence  of 
one  dead  body  which  has  received  and  hatched  the 
deposited  eggs  of  millions  that  otherwise  would  have 
remained  unvivified. 

175 


176        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Not  a  tree  falls,  not  a  withered  flower  droops  to  the 
ground,  not  a  fruit  drops  from  the  exhausted  bough,  but 
it  is  instantly  attacked  by  the  class  of  insect  prepared 
by  Nature  for  its  destruction.  The  white  ant  scans  a 
lofty  tree  whose  iron-like  timber  and  giant  stem  would 
seem  to  mock  at  his  puny  efforts ;  but  it  is  rotten  at 
the  core  and  not  a  leaf  adorns  its  branches,  and  in  less 
than  a  year  it  will  have  fallen  to  the  earth  a  mere  shell ; 
the  whole  of  the  wood  will  have  been  devoured. 

Rottenness  of  all  kinds  is  soon  carried  from  the  face 
of  the  land  by  the  wise  arrangements  of  Nature  for  pre- 
serving the  world  from  plagues  and  diseases,  which  the 
decaying  and  unconsumed  bodies  of  animals  and  vege- 
tables would  otherwise  engender. 

How  beautiful  are  all  the  laws  of  Nature !  how  per- 
fect in  their  details  !  Allow  that  the  great  duty  of  the 
insect  tribe  is  to  cleanse  the  earth  and  atmosphere  from 
countless  impurities  noxious  to  the  human  race,  how 
great  a  plague  would  our  benefactors  themselves  be- 
come were  it  not  for  the  various  classes  of  carnivorous 
insects  who  prey  upon  them,  and  are  in  their  turn  the 
prey  of  others !  It  is  a  grand  principle  of  continual 
strife,  which  keeps  all  and  each  down,  to  their  required 
level. 

What  a  feast  for  an  observant  mind  is  thus  afforded 
in  a  tropical  country !  The  variety  and  the  multitude 
of  living  things  are  so  great  that  a  person  of  only  ordi- 
nary observation  cannot  help  acquiring  a  tolerable 
knowledge  of  the  habits  of  some  of  the  most  interest 
ing  classes.  In  the  common  routine  of  daily  life  they 
are  continually  in  his  view,  and  even  should  he  have 
no  taste  for  the  study  of  Nature  and  her  productions, 
still  one  prevailing  characteristic  of  the  insect  tribe 


Dry  Beetles.  177 

must  impress  itself  upon  his  mind.  It  is  the  natural 
instinct  not  simply  of  procreating  their  species,  but  of 
laying  by  a  provision  for  their  expected  offspring. 
What  a  lesson  to  mankind !  what  an  example  to  the 
nurtured  mind  of  man  from  one  of  the  lowest  classes 
of  living  things ! 

Here  we  see  no  rash  matrimonial  engagements ;  no 
penniless  lovers  selfishly  and  indissolubly  linked  to- 
gether to  propagate  large  families  of  starving  children. 
All  the  arrangements  of  the  insect  tribe,  though 
prompted  by  sheer  instinct,  are  conducted  with  a  de- 
gree of  rationality  that  in  some  cases  raises  the  mere 
instinct  of  the  creeping  thing  above  the  assumed  "rea- 
son" of  man. 

The  bird  builds  her  nest  and  carefully  provides  for 
the  comfort  of  her  young  long  ere  she  lays  her  fragile 
egg.  Even  look  at  that  vulgar-looking  beetle,  whose 
coarse  form  would  banish  the  idea  of  any  rational  feel- 
ing existing  in  its  brain — the  Billingsgate  fish-woman 
of  its  tribe  in  coarseness  and  rudeness  of  exterior 
{Scarabceus  carnifex) — see  with  what  quickness  she  is 
running  backward,  raised  almost  upon  her  head,  while 
with  her  hind  legs  she  trundles  a  large  ball ;  herself  no 
bigger  than  a  nutmeg,  the  ball  is  four  times  the  size. 
There  she  goes  along  the  smooth  road.  The  ball  she 
has  just  manufactured  from  some  fresh-dropped  horse- 
dung  ;  it  is  as  round  as  though  turned  by  a  lathe,  and, 
although  the  dung  has  not  lain  an  hour  upon  the 
ground,  she  and  her  confederates  have  portioned  out 
the  spoil,  and  each  has  started  off  with  her  separate 
ball.  Not  a  particle  of  horsedung  remains  upon  the 
road.  Now  she  has  rolled  the  ball  away  from  the  hard 
road,  and  upon  the  soft,  sandy  border  she  has  stopped 

M 


178        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

to  rest.  No  great  amount  of  rest ;  she  plunges  her 
head  into  the  ground,  and  with  that  shovel-like  projec- 
tion of  stout  horn  she  mines  her  way  below  :  she  has 
disappeared  even  in  these  few  seconds. 

Presently  the  apparently  deserted  ball  begins  to 
move,  as  though  acted  on  by  some  subterranean  force  ; 
gradually  it  sinks  to  the  earth,  and  it  vanishes  alto- 
gether. 

Some  persons  might  imagine  that  she  feeds  upon  the 
ordure,  and  that  she  has  buried  her  store  as  a  dog  hides 
a  bone  ;  but  this  is  not  the  case  ;  she  has  formed  a  re- 
ceptacle for  her  eggs,  which  she  deposits  in  the  ball  of 
dung,  the  warmth  of  which  assists  in  bringing  the  lar- 
vae into  life,  which  then  feed  upon  the  manure. 

It  is  wonderful  to  observe  with  what  rapidity  all 
kinds  of  dung  are  removed  by  these  beetles.  This  is 
effected  by  the  active  process  of  rolling  the  loads  instead 
of  carrying,  by  which  method  a  large  mass  is  trans- 
ported at  once. 

The  mason-fly  is  also  a  ball-maker,  but  she  carries 
her  load  and  builds  an  elaborate  nest.  This  insect  be- 
longs to  the  order  "  Hymenoptera,"  and  is  of  the  Ich- 
neumon tribe,  being  a  variety  of  upward  of  four  hun- 
dred species  of  that  interesting  fly. 

The  whole  tribe  of  Ichneumon  are  celebrated  for 
their  courage ;  a  small  fly  will  not  hesitate  to  attack 
the  largest  cockroach,  who  evinces  the  greatest  terror 
at  sight  of  his  well-known  enemy ;  but  the  greatest 
proof  of  valor  in  a  fly  is  displayed  in  the  war  of  the 
ichneumon  against  the  spider. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  this  insect  in  Ceylon,  from 
the  large  black  species,  the  size  of  the  hornet,  down  to 
the  minute  tinsel-green  fly,  no  bigger  than  a  gnat ;  but 


Mason  Flies.  179 

every  one  of  these  different  species  wages  perpetual  war 
against  the  arch  enemy  of  flies. 

In  very  dry  weather  in  some  districts,  when  most 
pools  and  water-holes  are  dried  up,  a  pail  of  water 
thrown  upon  the  ground  will  as  assuredly  attract  a 
host  of  mason-flies  as  carrion  will  bring  together 
"blow-flies."  They  will  be  then  seen  in  excessive 
activity  upon  the  wet  earth,  forming  balls  of  mud,  by 
rolling  the  earth  between  their  fore  feet  until  they  have 
manufactured  each  a  pill.  With  this  they  fly  away  to 
build  their  nest,  and  immediately  return  for  a  further 
supply. 

The  arrangement  of  the  nest  is  a  matter  of  much 
consideration,  as  the  shape  depends  entirely  upon  the 
locality  in  which  it  is  built:  it  may  be  in  the  corner  of 
a  room,  or  in  a  hole  in  a  wall,  or  in  the  hollow  of  a 
bamboo  ;  but  wherever  it  is,  the  principle  is  the  same, 
although  the  sTiape  of  the  nest  may  vary.  Everything 
is  to  be  hermetically  sealed. 

The  mason-fly  commences  by  flattening  the  first  pill 
of  clay  upon  the  intended  site  (say  the  corner  of  a 
room)  ;  she  then  spreads  it  in  a  thin  layer  over  a  sur- 
face of  about  two  inches,  and  retires  for  another  ball  of 
clay.  This  she  dabs  upon  the  plastic  foundation,  and 
continues  the  apparently  rude  operation  until  some 
twenty  or  thirty  pills  of  clay  are  adhering  at  equal  dis- 
tances. She  then  forms  these  into  a  number  of  neat 
oval-shaped  cells,  about  the  size  of  a  wren's  egg,  and 
in  each  cell  she  deposits  one  egg.  She  then  flies  off  in 
search  of  spiders,  which  are  to  be  laid  up  in  stores 
within  the  cells  as  food  for  the  young  larvse  when 
hatched. 

Now  the  transition  from  the  larva  to  the  fly  takes 


180        Eight  Fears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

place  in  the  cell,  and  occupies  about  six  weeks  from 
the  time  the  egg  is  first  laid ;  thus,  as  the  egg  itself  is 
not  vivified  for  some  weeks  after  it  is  deposited,  the 
spiders  have  to  be  preserved  in  a  sound  and  fresh  state 
during  that  interval  until  the  larva  is  in  such  an  ad- 
vanced stage  as  to  require  food. 

In  a  tropical  country  every  one  knows  that  a  very  few 
hours  occasion  the  putrefaction  of  all  dead  animal  sub- 
stances ;  nevertheless  these  spiders  are  to  be  kept  fresh 
and  good,  like  our  tins  of  preserved  meats,  to  be  eaten 
when  required. 

One,  two,  or  even  three  spiders,  according  to  their 
size,  the  mason-fly  deposits  in  each  cell,  and  then  closes 
it  hermetically  with  clay.  The  spiders  she  has  pounced 
upon  while  sunning  themselves  in  the  centre  of  their 
delicate  nets,  and  they  are  hurried  off  in  a  panic  to  be 
converted  into  preserved  provisions.  Each  cell  being 
closed,  the  whole  nest  is  cemented  over  with  a  thick 
covering  of  clay.  In  due  time  the  young  family  hatch, 
eat  their  allowance  of  spiders,  undergo  their  torpid 
change,  and  emerge  from  their  clay  mansion  complete 
mason-flies. 

Every  variety  of  Ichneumon,  however  minute  (in 
Ceylon),  chooses  the  spider  as  the  food  for  its  young. 
It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  find  a  gun  well  loaded 
with  spiders,  clay  and  grubs,  some  mason-fly  having 
chosen  the  barrel  for  his  location.  A  bunch  of  keys 
will  invite  a  settlement  of  one  of  the  smaller  species, 
who  will  make  its  nest  in  the  tube  of  a  key,  which  it 
also  fills  with  minute  spiders. 

In  attacking  the  spider,  the  mason-fly  has  a  choice 
of  his  antagonist,  and  he  takes  good  care  to  have  a  pre- 
ponderance of  weight  on  his  own  side.  His  reason  for 


Spiders.  181 

choosing  this  in  preference  to  other  insects  for  a  pre- 
served store  may  be  that  the  spider  is  naturally  juicy, 
plump  and  compact,  combining  advantages  both  for 
keeping  and  packing  closely. 

There  are  great  varieties  of  spiders  in  Ceylon,  one 
of  which  is  of  such  enormous  size  as  to  resemble  the 
Aranea  avicularia  of  America.  This  species  stands 
on  an  area  of  about  three  inches,  and  never  spins  a 
web,  but  wanders  about  and  lives  in  holes  ;  his  length 
of  limb,  breadth  of  thorax  and  powerful  jaws  give  him 
a  most  formidable  appearance.  There  is  another  spe- 
cies of  a  large-sized  spider  who  spins  a  web  of  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  in  diameter.  This  is  composed  of 
a  strong,  yellow,  silky  fibre,  and  so  powerful  is  the  tex- 
ture that  a  moderate-sized  walking-cane  thrown  into  the 
web  will  be  retained  by  it.  This  spider  is  about  two 
inches  long,  the  color  black,  with  a  large  yellow  spot 
upon  the  back,  and  the  body  nearly  free  from  hair. 

Some  years  ago  an  experiment  was  made  in  France 
of  substituting  the  thread  of  the  spider  for  the  silk  of 
the  silkworm  :  several  pairs  of  stockings  and  various 
articles  were  manufactured  with  tolerable  success  in 
this  new  material,  but  the  fibre  was  generally  con- 
sidered as  too  fragile. 

A  sample  of  such  thread  as  is  spun  by  the  spider 
described  could  not  have  failed  to  produce  the  desired  - 
result,  as  its  strength  is  so  great  that  it  can  be  wound 
upon  a  card  without  the  slightest  care  required  in  the 
operation.  The  texture  is  far  more  silky  than  the  fibre 
commonly  produced  by  spiders,  which  has  more  gene- 
rally the  character  of  cotton  than  of  silk. 

Should  this  ever  be  experimented  on,  a  question  might 
arise  of  much  interest  to  entomologists,  whether  a  dif- 
16 


1 82        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

ference  in  the  food  of  the  spider  would  affect  the  quality 
of  the  thread,  as  is  well  known  to  be  the  case  with  the 
common  silkworm. 

A  Ceylon  night  after  a  heavy  shower  of  rain  is  a 
brilliant  sight,  when  the  whole  atmosphere  is  teeming 
with  moving  lights  bright  as  the  stars  themselves,  wav- 
ing around  the  tree-tops  in  fiery  circles,  now  threading 
like  distant  lamps  through  the  intricate  branches  and 
lighting  up  the  dark  recesses  of  the  foliage,  then  rush- 
ing like  a  shower  of  sparks  around  the  glittering 
boughs.  Myriads  of  bright  fire-flies  in  these  wild 
dances  meet  their  destiny,  being  entangled  in  opposing 
spiders'  webs,  where  they  hang  like  fairy  lamps,  their 
own  light  directing  the  path  of  the  destroyer  and  assist- 
ing in  their  destruction. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  luminous  insects  in  Cey- 
lon. That  which  affords  the  greatest  volume  of  light 
is  a  large  white  grub  about  two  inches  in  length. 
This  is  a  fat,  sluggish  animal,  whose  light  is  far  more 
brilliant  than  could  be  supposed  to  emanate  from  such 
a  form. 

The  light  of  a  common  fire-fly  will  enable  a  person 
to  distinguish  the  hour  on  a  dial  in  a  dark  night,  but 
the  glow  from  the  grub  described  will  render  the  small- 
est print  so  legible  that  a  page  may  be  read  with  ease. 
I  once  tried  the  experiment  of  killing  the  grub,  but  the 
light  was  not  extinguished  with  life,  and  by  opening 
the  tail,  I  squeezed  out  a  quantity  of  glutinous  fluid, 
which  was  so  highly  phosphorescent  that  it  brilliantly 
illumined  the  page  of  a  book  which  I  had  been  reading 
by  its  light  for  a  trial. 

All  phosphorescent  substances  require  friction  to 
produce  their  full  volume  of  light ;  this  is  exemplified 


Luminous  Insects.  183 

at  sea  during,  a  calm  tropical  night,  when  the  ocean 
sleeps  in  utter  darkness  and  quietude  and  not  a  ripple 
disturbs  the  broad  surface  of  the  water.  Then  the 
prow  of  the  advancing  steamer  cuts  through  the  dreary 
waste  of  darkness  and  awakens  into  fiery  life  the  spray 
which  dashes  from  her  sides.  A  broad  stream  of  light 
illumines  the  sea  in  her  wake,  and  she  appears  to 
plough  up  fire  in  her  rush  through  the  darkened  water. 

The  simple  friction  of  the  moving  mass  agitates  the 
millions  of  luminous  animalcules  contained  in  the 
water ;  in  the  same  manner  a  fish  darting  through  the 
sea  is  distinctly  seen  by  the  fiery  course  which  is  created 
by  his  own  velocity. 

All  luminous  insects  are  provided  with  a  certain 
amount  of  phosphorescent  fluid,  which  can  be  set  in 
action  at  pleasure  by  the  agitation  of  a  number  of 
nerves  and  muscles  situated  in  the  region  of  the  fluid 
and  especially  adapted  to  that  purpose.  It  is  a  com- 
mon belief  that  the  light  of  the  glow-worm  is  used  as 
a  lamp  of  love  to  assist  in  nocturnal  meetings,  but 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  insect  makes  use  of 
its  natural  brilliancy  without  any  specific  intention.  It 
is  as  natural  for  the  fire-fly  to  glitter  by  night  as  for  the 
colored  butterfly  to  be  gaudy  by  day. 

The  variety  of  beautiful  and  interesting  insects  is  so 
great  in  Ceylon  that  an  entomologist  would  consider  it 
a  temporary  elysium  ;  neither  would  he  have  much 
trouble  in  collecting  a  host  of  different  species  who  will 
exhibit  themselves  without  the  necessity  of  a  laborious 
search.  Thus,  while  he  may  be  engaged  in  pinning 
out  some  rare  specimen,  a  thousand  minute  "eye-flies" 
will  be  dancing  so  close  to  his  eyeballs  that  seeing  is 
out  of  the  question.  These  little  creatures,  which  are 


184        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

no  larger  than  pins'  heads,  are  among  the  greatest 
plagues  in  some  parts  of  the  jungle  ;  and  what  increases 
the  annoyance  is  the  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  they 
dance  almost  into  your  eyes  out  of  sheer  vanity.  They 
are  simply  admiring  their  own  reflection  in  the  mirror 
of  the  eye ;  or,  may  be,  some  mistake  their  own  re- 
flected forms  for  other  flies  performing  the  part  of  a 
"vis-a-vis"  in  their  unwearying  quadrille. 

A  cigar  is  a  specific  against  these  small  plagues,  and 
we  will  allow  that  the  patient  entomologist  has  just 
succeeded  in  putting  them  to  flight  and  has  resumed 
the  occupation  of  setting  out  his  specimen.  Ha  !  see 
him  spring  out  of  his  chair  as  though  electrified. 
Watch  how,  regardless  of  the  laws  of  buttons,  he  fran- 
tically tears  his  trowsers  from  his  limbs  ;  he  has  him  ! — 
no  he  hasn't ! — yes  he  has  ! — no — no,  positively  he  can- 
not get  him  off.  It  is  a  tick  no  bigger  than  a  grain  of 
sand,  but  his  bite  is  like  a  red-hot  needle  boring  into 
the  skin.  If  all  the  royal  family  had  been  present,  he 
could  not  have  refrained  from  tearing  off  his  trowsers. 

The  naturalist  has  been  out  the  whole  morning  col- 
lecting, and  a  pretty  collection  he  has  got — a  perfect 
fortune  upon  his  legs  alone.  There  are  about  a  hun- 
dred ticks  who  have  not  yet  commenced  to  feed  upon 
him  ;  there  are  also  several  fine  specimens  of  the  large 
flat  buffalo  tick  ;  three  or  four  leeches  are  enjoying 
themselves  on  the  juices  of  the  naturalist ;  these  he  had 
not  felt,  although  they  had  bitten  him  half  an  hour  be- 
fore ;  a  fine  black  ant  has  also  escaped  during  the  re- 
cent confusion,  fortunately  without  using  his  sting. 

Oil  is  the  only  means  of  loosening  the  hold  of  a  tick  ; 
this  suffocates  him  and  he  dies  ;  but  he  leaves  an  amount 
of  inflammation  in  the  wound  which  is  perfectly  stir- 


Treasures  for  the  Entomologist.  185 

prising  in  so  minute  an  insect.  The  bite  of  the  smallest 
species  is  far  more  severe  than  that  of  the  large  buffalo 
or  the  deer  tick,  both  of  which  are  varieties. 

Although  the  leeches  in  Ceylon  are  excessively  an- 
noying, and  numerous  among  the  dead  leaves  of  the 
jungle  and  the  high  grass,  they  are  easily  guarded 
against  by  means  of  leech-gaiters :  these  are  wide 
stockings,  made  of  drill  or  some  other  light  and  close 
material,  which  are  drawn  over  the  foot  and  trowsers 
up  to  the  knee,  under  which  they  are  securely  tied. 
There  are  three  varieties  of  the  leech  :  the  small  jungle 
leech,  the  common  leech  and  the  stone  leech.  The 
latter  will  frequently  creep  up  the  nostrils  of  a  dog 
while  he  is  drinking  in  a  stream,  and,  unlike  the  other 
species,  it  does  not  drop  off  when  satiated,  but  con- 
tinues to  live  in  the  dog's  nostril.  I  have  known  a 
leech  of  this  kind  to  have  lived  more  than  two  months 
in  the  nose  of  one  of  my  hounds ;  he  was  so  high  up 
that  I  could  only  see  his  tail  occasionally  when  he 
relaxed  to  his  full  length,  and  injections  of  salt  and 
water  had  no  effect  on  him.  Thus  I  could  not  relieve 
the  dog  till  one  day  when  the  leech  descended,  and  I 
observed  the  tail  working  in  and  out  of  the  nostril ;  I 
then  extracted  him  in  the  usual  way  with  the  finger  and 
thumb  and  the  tail  of  the  coat. 

I  should  be  trespassing  too  much  upon  the  province 
of  the  naturalist,  and  attempting  more  than  I  could  ac- 
complish, were  I  to  enter  into  the  details  of  the  ento- 
mology of  Ceylon  ;  I  have  simply  mentioned  a  few  of 
those  insects  most  common  to  the  every-day  observer, 
and  I  leave  the  description  of  the  endless  varieties  of 
classes  to  those  who  make  entomology  a  study. 

It  may  no  doubt  appear  very  enticing  to  the  lovers  of 
16* 


1 86        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

such  things,  to  hear  of  the  gorgeous  colors  and  prodigious 
size  of  butterflies,  moths  and  beetles ;  the  varieties  of 
reptiles,  the  flying  foxes,  the  gigantic  crocodiles ;  the 
countless  species  of  waterfowl,  et  hoc  genus  omne  ;  but 
one  very  serious  fact  is  apt  to  escape  the  observation  of 
the  general  reader,  that  wherever  insect  and  reptile  life 
is  most  abundant,  so  sure  is  that  locality  full  of  malaria 
and  disease. 

Ceylon  does  not  descend  to  second-class  diseases : 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  influenza ;  hooping-cough, 
measles,  scarlatina,  etc.,  are  rarely,  if  ever,  heard  of; 
we  ring  the  changes  upon  four  first-class  ailments — four 
scourges,  which  alternately  ascend  to  the  throne  of  pes- 
tilence and  annually  reduce  the  circle  of  our  friends — 
cholera,  dysentery,  small-pox  and  fever.  This  year 
(1854)  there  has  been  some  dispute  as  to  the  routine 
of  succession  ;  they  have  accordingly  all  raged  at  one 
time. 

The  cause  of  infection  in  disease  has  long  been  a 
subject  of  controversy  among  medical  men,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that,  whatever  is  the  origin  of  the 
disease,  the  same  is  the  element  of  infection.  The  ques- 
tion is,  therefore,  reduced  to  the  prime  cause  of  the  dis- 
ease itself. 

A  theory  that  animalcules  are  the  cause  of  the  various 
contagious  and  infectious  disorders  has  created  much 
discussion  ;  and  although  this  opinion  is  not  generally 
entertained  by  the  faculty,  the  idea  is  so  feasible,  and 
so  many  rational  arguments  can  be  brought  forward  in 
its  support,  that  I  cannot  help  touching  upon  a  topic  so 
generally  interesting. 

In  the  first  place,  nearly  all  infectious  diseases  pre- 
dominate in  localities  which  are  hot,  damp,  swampy, 


Malaria,  187 

abo'unding  in  stagnant  pools  and  excluded  from  a  free 
circulation  of  air.  In  a  tropical  country,  a  residence  in 
such  a  situation  would  be  certain  death  to  a  human 
being,  but  the  same  locality  will  be  found  to  swarm 
with  insects  and  reptiles  of  all  classes. 

Thus,  what  is  inimical  to  human  life  is  propitious  to 
the  insect  tribe.  This  is  the  first  step  in  favor  of  the 
argument.  Therefore,  whatever  shall  tend  to  increase 
the  insect  life  must  in  an  inverse  ratio  war  with  human 
existence. 

When  we  examine  a  drop  of  impure  water,  and  dis- 
cover by  the  microscope  the  thousands  of  living  beings 
which  not  only  are  invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  some 
of  whom  are  barely  discoverable  even  by  the  strongest 
magnifying  power,  it  certainly  leads  to  the  inference, 
that  if  one  drop  of  impure  fluid  contains  countless 
atoms  endowed  with  vitality,  the  same  amount  of  im- 
pure air  may  be  equally  tenanted  with  its  myriads  of 
invisible  inhabitants. 

It  is  well  known  that  different  mixtures,  which  are 
at  first  pure  and  apparently  free  from  all  insect  life, 
will,  in  the  course  of  their  fermentation  and  subsequent 
impurity,  generate  peculiar  species  of  animalcules. 
Thus  all  water  and  vegetable  or  animal  matter,  in  a 
state  of  stagnation  and  decay,  gives  birth  to  insect  life  ; 
likewise  all  substances  of  every  denomination  which 
are  subjected  to  putrid  fermentation.  Unclean  sewers, 
filthy  hovels,  unswept  streets,  unwashed  clothes,  are 
therefore  breeders  of  animalcules,  many  of  which  are 
perfectly  visible  without  microscopic  aid. 

Now,  if  some  are  discernible  by  the  naked  eye,  and 
others  are  detected  in  such  varying  sizes  that  some  can 
only  just  be  distinguished  by  the  most  powerful  lens,  is 


1 38        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon., 

it  not  rational  to  conclude  that  the  smallest  discernible 
to  human  intelligence  is  but  the  medium  of  a  countless 
race  ?  that  millions  of  others  still  exist,  which  are  too 
minute  for  any  observation  ? 

Observe  the  particular  quarters  of  a  city  which  sufler 
most  severely  during  the  prevalence  of  an  epidemic. 
In  all  dirty,  narrow  streets,  where  the  inhabitants  are 
naturally  of  a  low  and  uncleanly  class,  the  cases  will  be 
tenfold.  Thus,  filth  is  admitted  to  have  at  least  the 
power  of  attracting  disease,  and  we  know  that  it  not 
only  attracts,  but  generates  animalcules ;  therefore  filth, 
insects  and  disease  are  ever  to  be  seen  closely  linked 
together. 

Now,  the  common  preventives  againt  infection  are 
such  as  are  peculiarly  inimical  to  every  kind  of  insect ; 
camphor,  chloride  of  lime,  tobacco-smoke,  'and  power- 
ful scents  and  smokes  of  any  kind.  The  first  im- 
pulse on  the  appearance  of  an  infectious  disease  is  to 
purify  everything  as  much  as  possible,  and  by  extra 
cleanliness  and  fumigations  to  endeavor  to  arrest  its 
progress.  The  great  purifier  of  Nature  is  a  violent 
wind,  which  usually  terminates  an  epidemic  immedi- 
ately ;  this  would  naturally  carry  before  it  all  insect  life 
with  which  the  atmosphere  might  be  impregnated,  and 
the  disease  disappears  at  the  same  moment.  It  will  be 
well  remembered  that  the  plague  of  locusts  inflicted 
upon  Pharaoh  was  relieved  in  the  same  manner : 

"And  the  Lord  turned  a  mighty  strong  west  wind, 
which  took  away  the  locusts  and  cast  them  into  the  Red 
Sea  ;  there  remained  not  one  locust  in  all  the  coasts  of 
Egypt." 

Every  person  is  aware  that  unwholesome  air  is  quite 


Disappearance  of  the  "Afzna."  189 

as  poisonous  to  the  human  system  as  impure  water ; 
and  seeing  that  the  noxious  qualities  of  the  latter  are 
caused  by  animalcules,  and  that  the  method  used  for 
purifying  infected  air  are  those  most  generally  destruct- 
ive to  insect  life,  it  is  not  irrational  to  conclude  that 
the  poisonous  qualities  of  bad  water  and  bad  air  arise 
from  the  same  cause. 

Man  is  being  constantly  preyed  upon  by  insects ;  and 
were  it  not  for  ordinary  cleanliness,  he  would  become 
a  mass  of  vermin  ;  even  this  does  not  protect  him  from 
the  rapacity  of  ticks,  mosquitoes,  fleas  and  many 
others.  Intestinal  worms  feed  on  him  within,  and, 
unseen,  use  their  slow  efforts  for  his  destruction. 

The  knowledge  of  so  many  classes  which  actually 
prey  upon  the  human  system  naturally  leads  to  the 
belief  that  many  others  endowed  with  the  same  pro- 
pensities exist,  of  which  we  have  at  present  no  concep- 
tion. Thus,  different  infectious  disorders  might  pro- 
ceed from  peculiar  species  of  animalcules,  which,  at 
given  periods,  are  wafted  into  certain  countries,  carry- 
ing pestilence  and  death  in  their  invisible  course. 

A  curious  phenomenon  has  recently  occurred  at 
Mauritus,  where  that  terrible  scourge,  the  cholera,  has 
been  raging  with  desolating  effect. 

There  is  a  bird  in  that  island  called  the  "  martin," 
but  it  is  more  properly  the  "  mina."  This  bird  is 
about  the  size  of  the  starling,  whose  habits  its  possesses 
in  a  great  degree.  It  exists  in  immense  numbei's,  and 
is  a  grand  destroyer  of  all  insects.  On  this  account  it 
is  seldom  or  never  shot  at,  especially  as  it  is  a  great 
comforter  to  all  cattle,  whose  hides  it  entirely  cleans 
from  ticks  and  other  vermin,  remaining  for  many  hours 
perched  upon  the  back  of  one  animal,  while  its  bill  is 


190        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

actively  employed  in  searching  out  and  destroying  every 
insect. 

During  the  prevalence  of  the  cholera  at  Mauritius 
these  birds  disappeared.  Such  a  circumstance  had 
never  before  occurred,  and  the  real  cause  of  their 
departure  is  still  a  mystery. 

May  it  not .  have  been,  that  some  species  of  insect 
upon  which  they  fed  had  likewise  migrated,  and  that 
certain  noxious  animalcules,  which  had  been  kept  down 
by  this  class,  had  thus  multiplied  within  the  atmos- 
phere until  their  numbers  caused  disease?  All  suppo- 
sitions on  such  a  subject  must,  however,  remain  in 
obscurity,  as  no  proof  can  be  adduced  of  their  correct- 
ness. The  time  may  arrive  when  science  may  success- 
fully grapple  with  all  human  ailments,  but  hitherto 
that  king  of  pestilence,  the  "  cholera,"  has  reduced  the 
highest  medical  skill  to  miserable  uncertainty. 

Upon  reconsidering  the  dangers  of  fevers,  dysentery, 
etc.,  in  the  swampy  and  confined  districts  described, 
the  naturalist  may  become  somewhat  less  ardent  in  fol- 
lowing his  favorite  pursuit.  Of  one  fact  I  can  assure 
him — that  no  matter  how  great  the  natural  strength  of 
his  constitution,  the  repeated  exposure  to  the  intense 
heat  of  the  sun,  the  unhealthy  districts  that  he  will  visit, 
the  nights  redolent  of  malaria,  and  the  horrible  water 
that  he  must  occasionally  drink,  will  gradually  under- 
mine the  power  of  the  strongest  man.  Both  sportsman 
and  naturalist  in  this  must  share  alike. 

No  one  who  has  not  actually  suffered  from  the  effect 
can  appreciate  the  misery  of  bad  water  in  a  tropical 
country,  or  the  blessings  of  a  cool,  pure  draught.  I 
have  been  in  districts  of  Ceylon  where  for  sixteen  or 
twenty  miles  not  a  drop  of  water  is  to  be  obtained  fit 


Poisonous  Water.  191 

for  an  animal  to  drink ;  not  a  tree  to  throw  a  few  yards 
of  shade  upon  the  parching  ground ;  nothing  but 
stunted,  thorny  jungles  and  sandy,  barren  plains  as  far 
as  the  eye  can  reach  ;  the  yellow  leaves  crisp  upon  the 
withered  branches,  the  wild  fruits  hardened  for  want 
of  sap,  all  moisture  robbed  from  vegetation  by  the  piti- 
less drought  of  several  months. 

A  day's  work  in  such  a  country  is  hard  indeed — 
carrying  a  heavy  rifle  for  some  five-and-twenty  miles, 
sometimes  in  deep  sand,  sometimes  on  good  ground, 
but  always  exposed  to  the  intensity  of  that  blaze,  added 
to  the  reflection  from  the  sandy  soil,  and  the  total  want 
of  fresh  air  and  water.  All  Nature  seems  stagnated ; 
a  distant  pool  is  seen,  and  a  general  rush  takes  place 
toward  the.  cheering  sight.  The  water  is  thicker  than 
pease  soup,  a  green  scum  floats  through  the  thickened 
mass,  and  the  temperature  is  upward  of  130°  Fahr. 
All  kinds  of  insects  are  swarming  in  the  putrid  fluid, 
and  a  saltish  bitter  adds  to  its  nauseating  flavor.  I 
have  seen  the  exhausted  coolies  spread  their  dirty  cloths 
upon  the  surface,  and  form  them  into  filters  by  sucking 
the  water  through  them.  Oh  for  a  glass  of  Newera 
Ellia  water,  the  purest  and  best  that  ever  flows,  as  it 
sparkles  out  of  the  rocks  on  the  mountain-tops !  what 
pleasure  so  perfect  as  a  long,  deep  and  undisturbed 
draught  of  such  cold,  clear  nectar  when  the  throat  is 
parched  with  unquenchable  thirst! 

In  some  parts  of  Ceylon,  especially  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  coast,  where  the  land  is  flat  and  sandy,  the 
water  is  always  brackish,  even  during  the  rainy  season, 
and  in  the  dry  months  it  is  undrinkable. 

The  natives  then  make  use  of  a  berry  for  cleansing 
it  and  precipitating  the  impurities.  I  know  the  shrub 


192        Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

and  the  berry  well,  but  it  has  no  English  denomina- 
tion. The  berries  are  about  the  size  of  a  very  large 
pea,  and  grow  in  clusters  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  together, 
and  one  berry  is  said  to  be  sufficient  to  cleanse  a  gallon 
of  water.  The  method  of  using  them  is  curious, 
although  simple.  The  vessel  which  is  intended  to 
contain  the  water,  which  is  generally  an  earthen  chatty, 
is  well  rubbed  in  the  inside  with  a  berry  until  the  lat- 
ter, which  is  of  a  horny  consistency,  like  vegetable 
ivory,  is  completely  worn  away.  The  chatty  is  then 
filled  with  the  muddy  water,  and  allowed  to  stand  for 
about  an  hour  or  more,  until  all  the  impurities  have 
precipitated  to  the  bottom  and.  the  water  remains 
clear. 

I  have  constantly  used  this  berry,  but  I  certainly  can- 
not say  that  the  water  has  ever  been  rendered  perfectly 
clear;  it  has  been  vastly  improved,  and  what  was 
totally  undrinkable  before  has  been  rendered  fit  for 
use ;  but  it  has  at  the  best  been  only  comparatively 
good  ;  and  although  the  berry  has  produced  a  decided 
effect,  the  native  accounts  of  its  properties  are  greatly 
exaggerated. 

During  the  prolonged  droughts,  many  rivers  of  con- 
siderable magnitude  are  completely  exhausted,  and 
nothing  remains  but  a  dry  bed  of  sand  between  lofty 
banks.  At  these  seasons  the  elephants,  being  hard 
pressed  for  water,  make  use  of  their  wonderful  instinct 
by  digging  holes  in  the  dry  sand  of  the  river's  bed  ; 
this  they  perform  with  the  horny  toes  of  their  fore  feet, 
and  frequently  work  to  a  depth  of  three  feet  before  they 
discover  the  liquid  treasure  beneath.  This  process  of 
well-digging  almost  oversteps  the  boundaries  of  in- 
stinct and  strongly  savors  of  reason,  the  two  powers 


Well-Digging  Elephants. 


193 


being  so  nearly  connected  that  it  is  difficult  in  some 
cases  to  define  the  distinction.  There  are  so  many 
interesting  cases  of  the  wonderful  display  of  both  these 
attributes  in  animals,  that  I  shall  notice  some  features 
of  this  subject  in  a  separate  chapter. 

ir  H 


CHAPTER    IX. 

INSTINCT  AND  REASON — TAILOR-BIRDS  AND  GROSBEAKS — THB 

WHITE  ANT BLACK  ANTS  AT  WAR — WANDEROO  MONKEYS 

— HABITS  OF   ELEPHANTS — ELEPHANTS   IN  THE  LAKE — 
HERD   OF   ELEPHANTS    BATHING — ELEPHANT-SHOOTING — ' 

THE  RENCONTRE — THE  CHARGE — CAUGHT  BY  THE  TAIL 

HORSE    GORED    BY    A     BUFFALO SAGACITY    OF    DOGS — 

"BLUEBEARD" — HIS  HUNT — A  TRUE  HOUND. 

THERE  can  be  no  doubt  that  man  is  not  the  only 
animal  endowed  with  reasoning  powers  :  he  pos- 
sesses that  faculty  to  an  immense  extent,  but  although 
the  amount  of  the  same  power  possessed  by  animals 
may  be  infinitely  small,  nevertheless  it  is  their  share 
of  reason,  which  they  occasionally  use  apart  from  mere 
instinct. 

Although   instinct  and  reason  appear  to  be  closely 
allied,  they  are  easily  separated  and  defined. 

Instinct  is  the  faculty  with  which  Nature  has  en- 
dowed all  animals  for  the  preservation  and  continuation 
of  their  own  species.  This  is  accordingly  exhibited  in 
various  features,  as  circumstances  may  call  forth  the 
operation  of  the  power ;  but  so  wonderful  are  the  attri- 
butes of  Nature  that  the  details  of  her  arrangements 
throughout  the  animal  and  insect  creation  give  to  every 
class  an  amount  of  sense  which  in  many  instances  sur- 
mounts the  narrow  bounds  of  simple  instinct. 
194 


Instinct  and  Reason.  195 

The  great  characteristic  of  sheer  instinct  is  its  want 
of  progression ;  it  never  increases,  never  improves. 
It  is  possessed  now  in  the  nineteenth  century  by  every 
race  of  living  creatures  in  no  larger  proportion  than 
was  bestowed  upon  them  at  the  creation. 

In  general,  knowledge  increases  like  a  rolling  snow- 
ball ;  a  certain  amount  forms  a  base  for  extra  improve- 
ment, and  upon  successive  foundations  of  increasing 
altitude  the  eminence  has  been  attained  of  the  present 
era.  This  is  the  effect  of  "reason;"  but  "instinct," 
although  beautiful  in  its  original  construction,  remains, 
like  the  blossom  of  a  tree,  ever  the  same — a  limited 
effect  produced  by  a  given  cause ;  an  unchangeable 
law  of  Nature  that  certain  living  beings  shall  perform 
certain  functions  which  require  a  certain  amount  of  in- 
telligence ;  this  amount  is  supplied  by  Nature  for  the 
performance  of  the  duties  required  ;  this  is  instinct. 

Thus,  according  to  the  requirements  necessitated  by 
the  habits  of  certain  living  creatures  to  an  equivalent 
amount  is  their  share  of  instinct. 

Reason  differs  from  instinct  as  combining  the  effects 
of  thought  and  reflection  ;  this  being  a  proof  of  con- 
sideration, while  instinct  is  simply  a  direct  emanation 
from  the  brain,  confined  to  an  impulse. 

In  our  observations  of  Nature,  especially  in  tropical 
countries,  we  see  numberless  exemplifications  of  these 
powers,  in  some  of  which  the  efforts  of  common  in- 
stinct halt  upon  the  extreme  boundary  and  have  almost 
a  tinge  of  reason. 

What  can  be  more  curious  than  the  nest  of  the 
"  tailor-bird?" — a  selection  of  tough  leaves  neatly  sewn 
one  over  the  other  to  form  a  waterproof  exterior  to  the 
comfortable  little  dwelling  within?  Where  does  the 


196        Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

needle  and  thread  come  from  ?  The  first  is  the  deli- 
cate bill  of  the  bird  itself,  and  the  latter  is  the  strong 
fibre  of  the  bark  of  a  tree,  with  which  the  bird  sews 
every  leaf,  lapping  one  over  the  other  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  slates  are  laid  upon  a  roof. 

Nevertheless  this  is  simple  instinct ;  the  tailor-bird  in 
the  days  of  Adam  constructed  her  nest  in  a  similar 
manner,  which  will  be  continued  without  improvement 
till  the  end  of  time. 

The  grosbeak  almost  rivals  the  tailor-bird  in  the 
beautiful  formation  of  its  nest.  These  birds  build  in 
company,  twenty  or  thirty  nests  being  common  upon 
one  tree.  Their  apparent  intention  in  the  peculiar  con- 
struction of  their  nests  is  to  avoid  the  attacks  of  snakes 
and  lizards.  These  nests  are  about  two  feet  long,  com- 
posed of  beautifully  woven  grass,  shaped  like  an  elon- 
gated pear.  They  are  attached  like  fruit  to  the  extreme 
end  of  a  stalk  or  branch,  from  which  they  wave  to  and 
fro  in  the  wind,  as  though  hung  out  to  dry.  The  bird 
enters  at  a  funnel-like  aperture  in  the  bottom,  and  by 
this  arrangement  the  young  are  effectually  protected 
from  reptiles. 

All  nests,  whether  of  birds  or  insects,  are  particularly 
interesting,  as  they  explain  the  domestic  habits  of  the 
occupants ;  but,  however  wonderful  the  arrangement 
and  the  beauty  of  the  work  as  exhibited  among  birds, 
bees,  wasps,  etc.,  still  it  is  the  simple  effect  of  instinct 
on  the  principle  that  they  never  vary. 

The  white  ant — that  grand  destroyer  of  all  timber — 
always  works  under  cover ;  he  builds  as  he  progresses 
in  his  work  of  destruction,  and  runs  a  long  gallery  of 
fine  clay  in  the  direction  of  his  operations;  beneath 
this  his  devastation  proceeds  until  he  has  penetrated  to 


Instinct  and  Reason.  197 

the  interior  of  the  beam,  the  centre  of  which  he  en- 
tirely demolishes,  leaving  a  thin  shell  in  the  form  of 
the  "original  log,  encrusted  over  the  exterior  with  nu- 
merous galleries. 

There  is  less  interest  in  the  habits  of  these  destructive 
wretches  .than  in  all  other  of  the  ant  tribe ;  they  build 
stupendous  nests,  it  is  true,  but  their  interior  economy 
is  less  active  and  thrifty  than  that  of  many  other 
species  of  ants,  among  which  there  is  a  greater  appear- 
ance of  the  display  of  reasoning  powers  than  in  most 
animals  of  a  superior  class. 

On  a  fine  sunny  morning  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see 
ants  busily  engaged  in  bringing  out  all  the  eggs  from 
the  nest  and  laying  them  in  the  sun  until  they  become 
thoroughly  warmed,  after  which  they  carry  them  all 
back  again  and  lay  them  in  their  respective  places. 
This  looks  very  like  a  power  of  reasoning,  as  it  is  deci- 
dedly beyond  instinct.  If  they  were  to  carry  out  the 
eggs  every  morning,  wet  or  dry,  it  would  be  an  effort 
of  instinct  to  the  detriment  of  the  eggs ;  but  as  the 
weather  is  uncertain,  it  is  an  effort  of  reason  on  the 
part  of  the  ants  to  bring  out  the  eggs  to  the  sun,  espe- 
cially as  it  is  not  an  every-day  occurrence,  even  in  fine 
weather. 

In  Mauritius,  the  negroes  have  a  custom  of  turn- 
ing the  reasoning  powers  of  the  large  black  ant  to 
advantage. 

White  ants  are  frequently  seen  passing  in  and  out  of 
a  small  hole  from  underneath  a  building,  in  which  case 
their  ravages  could  only  be  prevented  by  taking  up  the 
flooring  and  destroying  the  nest. 

The  negroes  avoid  this  by  their  knowledge  of  the  hab- 
its of  the  black  ant,  who  is  a  sworn  enemy  to  the  white. 
17* 


198        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

They  accordingly  pour  a  little  treacle  on  the  ground 
within  a  yard  of  the  hole  occupied  by  the  white  ants. 
The  smell  of  the  treacle  shortly  attracts  some  of  the 
black  species,  who,  on  their  arrival  are  not  long  in 
observing  their  old  enemies  passing  in  and  out  of  the 
hole.  Some  of  them  leave  the  treacle  ;  these  are  evi- 
dently messengers,  as  in  the  course  of  the  day  a  whole 
army  of  black  ants  will  be  seen  advancing  in  a  narrow 
line  of  many  yards  in  length,  to  storm  the  stronghold 
of  the  white  ants.  They  enter  the  hole,  and  they  destroy 
every  white  ant  in  the  building.  Resistance  there  can 
be  none,  as  the  plethoric,  slow-going  white  ant  is  as  a 
mouse  to  a  cat  in  the  encounter  with  his  active  enemy, 
added  to  which  the  black  ant  is  furnished  with  a  most 
venomous  sting,  in  addition  to  a  powerful  pair  of  man- 
dibles. I  have  seen  the  black  ants  returning  from  their 
work  of  destruction,  each  carrying  a  slaughtered  white 
ant  in  his  mouth,  which  he  devours  at  leisure.  This  is 
again  a  decided  effort  of  reason,  as  the  black  ant  arrives 
at  the  treacle  without  a  thought  of  the  white  ant  in  his 
mind,  but,  upon  seeing  his  antagonist,  he  despatches 
messengers  for  reinforcements,  who  eventually  bring  up 
the  army  to  the  "  rendezvous." 

Numerous  instances  might  be  cited  of  the  presence 
of  reasoning  powers  among  the  insect  classes,  but  this 
faculty  becomes  of  increased  interest  when  seen  in  the 
larger  animals. 

Education  is  both  a  proof  and  a  promoter  of  reason 
in  all  animals.  This  removes  them  from  their  natural 
or  instinctive  position,  and  brings  forth  the  full  develop- 
ment of  the  mental  powers.  This  is  exhibited  in  the 
performance  of  well-trained  dogs,  especially  among 
pointers  and  setters.  Again,  in  the  feats  performed  by 


Reason  of  Dogs  and  Eltphants.  199 

educated  animals  in  the  circus,  where  the  elephant  has 
lately  endeavored  to  prove  a  want  of  common  sense  by 
standing  on  his  head.  Nevertheless,  however  absurd 
the  tricks  which  man  may  teach  the  animal  to  perform, 
the  very  fact  of  their  performance  substantiates  an 
amount  of  reason  in  the  animal. 

Monkeys,  elephants  and  dogs  are  naturally  endowed 
with  a  larger  share  of  the  reasoning  power  than  other 
animals,  which  is  frequently  increased  to  a  wonderful 
extent  by  education.  The  former,  even  in  their  wild 
state,  are  so  little  inferior  to  some  natives,  either  in 
their  habits  or  appearance,  that  I  should  feel  some 
reluctance  in  denying  them  an  almost  equal  share  of 
reason  ;  the  want  of  speech  certainly  places  them  below 
the  Veddahs,  but  the  monkeys,  on  the  other  hand, 
might  assert  a  superiority  by  a  show  of  tails. 

Monkeys  vary  in  intelligence  according  to  their 
species,  and  may  be  taught  to  do  almost  anything. 
There  are  several  varieties  in  Ceylon,  among  which  the 
great  black  wanderoo,  with  white  whiskers,  is  the 
nearest  in  appearance  to  the  human  race.  This  monkey 
stands  upward  of  three  feet  high,  and  weighs  about 
eighty  pounds.  He  has  immense  muscular  power,  and 
he  has  also  a  great  peculiarity  in  the  formation  of  the 
skull,  which  is  closely  allied  to  that  of  a  human  being, 
the  lower  jaw  and  the  upper  being  in  a  straight  line 
with  the  forehead.  In  monkeys  the  jaws  usually  pro- 
ject. This  species  exists  in  most  parts  of  Ceylon,  but 
I  have  seen  it  of  a  larger  size  at  Newera  Ellia  than  in 
any  of  the  low-country  districts. 

Elephants  are  proverbially  sagacious,  both  in  their 
wild  state  and  when  domesticated.  I  have  previously 
described  the  building  of  a  dam  by  a  tame  elephant, 


2OO        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

which  was  an  exhibition  of  reason  hardly  to  be  ex- 
pected in  any  animal.  They  are  likewise  wonderfully 
sagacious  in  a  wild  state  in  preserving  themselves  from 
accidents,  to  which,  from  their  bulk  and  immense 
weight,  they  would  be  particularly  liable,  such  as  the 
crumbling  of  the  verge  of  a  precipice,  the  insecurity  of 
a  bridge  or  the  suffocating  depth  of  mud  in  a  lake. 

It  is  the  popular  opinion,  and  I  have  seen  it  ex- 
pressed in  many  works,  that  the  elephant  shuns  rough 
and  rocky  ground,  over  which  he  moves  with  difficulty, 
and  that  he  delights  in  level  plains,  etc.,  etc.  This  may 
be  the  case  in  Africa,  where  his  favorite  food,  the  mi- 
mosa, grows  upon  the  plain,  but  in  Ceylon  it  is  directly 
the  contrary.  In  this  country  the  elephant  delights  in 
the  most  rugged  localities ;  he  rambles  about  rocky 
hills  and  mountains  with  a  nimbleness  that  no  one  can 
understand  without  personal  experience.  So  partial 
are  elephants  to  rocky  and  uneven  ground  that  should 
the  ruins  of  a  mountain  exist  in  rugged  fragments 
among  a  plain  of  low,  thorny  jungle,  five  chances  to 
one  would  be  in  favor  of  tracking  the  herd  to  this  very 
spot,  where  they  would  most  likely  be  found,  standing 
among  the  alleys  formed  by  the  fragments  heaped 
around  them.  It  is  surprising  to  witness  the  dexterity 
of  elephants  in  traversing  ground  over  which  a  man 
can  pass  with  difficulty.  I  have  seen  places  on  the 
mountains  in  the  neighborhood  of  Newera  Ellia  bear- 
ing the  unmistakable  marks  of  elephants  where  I 
could  not  have  conceived  it  possible  for  such  an  animal 
to  stand.  On  the  precipitous  sides  of  jungle-covered 
mountains,  where  the  ground  is  so  steep  that  a  man  is 
forced  to  cling  to  the  underwood  for  support,  the  ele- 
phants still  plough  their  irresistible  course.  In  descend- 


Habits  of  Elephants.  201 

ing  or  ascending  these  places,  the  elephant  always 
describes  a  zigzag,  and  thus  lessens  the  abruptness  of 
the  inclination.  Their  immense  weight  acting  on  their 
broad  feet,  bordered  by  sharp  horny  toes,  cuts  away  the 
side  of  the  hill  at  every  stride  and  forms  a  level  step ; 
thus  they  are  enabled  to  skirt  the  sides  of  precipitous 
hills  and  banks  with  comparative  ease.  The  trunk  is 
the  wonderful  monitor  of  all  danger  to  an  elephant, 
from  whatever  cause  it  may  proceed.  This  may  arise 
from  the  approach  of  man  or  from  the  character  of  the 
country  ;  in  either  case  the  trunk  exerts  its  power  ;  in  one 
by  the  acute  sense  of  smell,  in  the  other  by  the  combi- 
nation of  the  sense  of  scent  and  touch.  In  dense  jun- 
gles, where  the  elephant  cannot  see  a  yard  before  him, 
the  sensitive  trunk  feels  the  hidden  way,  and  when  the 
roaring  of  waterfalls  admonishes  him  of  the  presence 
of  ravines  and  precipices,  the  never-failing  trunk  low- 
ered upon  the  ground  keeps  him  advised  of  every  inch 
of  his  path. 

Nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  induce  a  tame  ele- 
phant to  cross  a  bridge  which  his  sagacity  assures  him 
is  insecure ;  he  will  sound  it  with  his  trunk  and  press 
upon  it  with  one  foot,  but  he  will  not  trust  his  weight 
if  he  can  perceive  the  slightest  vibration. 

Their  power  of  determining  whether  bogs  or  the 
mud  at  the  bottom  of  tanks  are  deep  or  shallow  is  be- 
yond my  comprehension.  Although  I  have  seen  ele- 
phants in  nearly  every  position,  I  have  never  seen  one 
inextricably  fixed  in  a  swamp.  This  is  the  more  extra- 
ordinary as  their  habits  induce  them  to  frequent  the 
most  extensive  morasses,  deep  lakes,  muddy  tanks  and 
estuaries,  and  yet  I  have  never  seen  even  a  young  one 
get  into  a  scrape  by  being  overwhelmed.  There  ap- 


2O2        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

pears  to  be  a  natural  instinct  which  warns  them  in  their 
choice  of  ground,  the  same  as  that  which  influences  the 
buffalo,  and  in  like  manner  guides  him  through  his 
swampy  haunts. 

It  is  a  grand  sight  to  see  a  large  herd  of  elephants 
feeding  in  a  fine  lake  in  broad  daylight.  This  is  sel- 
dom witnessed  in  these  days,  as  the  number  of  guns 
have  so  disturbed  the  elephants  in  Ceylon  that  they 
rarely  come  out  to  drink  until  late  in  the  evening  or 
during  the  night ;  but  some  time  ago  I  had  a  fine  view 
of  a  grand  herd  in  a  lake  in  the  middle  of  the  day. 

I  was  out  shooting  with  a  great  friend  of  mine,  who 
is  a  brother-in-arms  against  the  game  of  Ceylon,  and 
than  whom  a  better  sportsman  does  not  breathe,  and 
we  had  arrived  at  a  wild  and  miserable  place  while  en 
route  home  after  a  jungle  trip.  Neither  of  us  was  feel- 
ing well ;  we  had  been  for  some  weeks  in  the  most  un- 
healthy part  of  the  country,  and  I  was  just  recovering 
from  a  touch  of  dysentery :  altogether,  we  were  looking 
forward  with  pleasure  to  our  return  to  comfortable 
quarters,  and  for  the  time  we  were  tired  of  jungle  life. 
However,  we  arrived  at  a  little  village  about  sixty  miles 
south  of  Batticaloa,  called  "  Gollagangwelle'weve' " 
(pronunciation  requires  practice),  and  a  very  long 
name  it  was  for  so  small  a  place ;  but  the  natives  in- 
sisted that  a  great  number  of  elephants  were  in  the 
neighborhood. 

They  also  declared  that  the  elephants  infested  the 
neighboring  tank  even  during  the  forenoon,  and  that 
they  nightly  destroyed  their  embankment,  and  would 
not  be  driven  away,  as  there  was  not  a  single  gun  pos- 
sessed by  the  village  with  which  to  scare  them.  This 
looked  all  right ;  so  we  loaded  the  guns  and  started 


Elephants  in  the  Lake.  203 

without  loss  of  time,  as  it  was  then  one  P.  M.,  and  the 
natives  described  the  tank  as  a  mile  distant.  Being 
perfectly  conversant  with  the  vague  idea  of  space 
described  by  a  Cingalese  mile,  we  mounted  our  horses, 
and,  accompanied  by  about  five-and-twenty  villagers, 
twenty  of  whom  I  wished  at  Jericho,  we  started.  By 
the  by,  I  have  quite  forgotton  to  describe  who  "  we" 
are — F.  H.  Palliser,  Esq.,  and  myself. 

Whether  or  not  it  was  because  I  did  not  feel  in  brisk 
health,  I  do  not  know,  but  somehow  or  other  I  had  a 
presentiment  that  the  natives  had  misled  us,  and  that 
we  should  not  find  the  elephants  in  the  tank,  but  that, 
as  usual,  we  should  be  led  up  to  some  dense,  thorny 
jungle,  and  told  that  the  elephants  were  somewhere  in 
that  direction.  Not  being  very  sanguine,  I  had  accord- 
ingly taken  no  trouble  about  my  gun-bearers,  and  I  saw 
several  of  my  rifles  in  the  hands  of  the  villagers,  and 
only  one  of  my  regular  gun-bearers  had  followed  me  ; 
the  rest,  having  already  had  a  morning's  march,  were 
"glad  of  an  excuse  to  remain  behind. 

Our  rate  lay  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  through 
deserted  paddy-land  and  low  jungle,  after  which  we 
entered  fine  open  jungle  and  forest.  Unfortunately,  the 
recent  heavy  rains  had  filled  the  tank,  which  had  over- 
flowed the  broken  dam  and  partially  flooded  the  forest. 
This  was  in  all  parts  within  two  hundred  yards  from 
the  dam  a  couple  of  feet  deep  in  water,  with  a  propor- 
tionate amount  of  sticky  mud  beneath,  and  through 
this  we  splashed  until  the  dam  appeared  about  fifty 
yards  on  our  right.  It  was  a  simple  earthern  mound, 
which  rose  about  ten  feet  from  the  level  of  the  forest, 
and  was  studded  with  immense  trees,  apparently  the 
growth  of  ages.  We  knew  that  the  tank  lay  on  the 


304        Eight  Tears'  Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

opposite  side,  but  we  continued  our  course  parallel  with 
the  dam  until  we  had  ridden  about  a  mile  from  the 
village,  the  natives,  for  a  wonder,  having  truly  described 
the  distance. 

Here  our  guide,  having  motioned  us  to  'stop,  ran 
quickly  up  the  dam  to  take  a  look  out  on  the  opposite 
side.  He  almost  immediately  beckoned  us  to  come  up. 
This  we  did  without  loss  of  time,  and  knowing  that  the 
game  was  in  view,  I  ordered  the  horses  to  retire  for 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

On  our  arrival  on  the  dam  there  was  a  fine  sight. 
The  lake  was  about  five  miles  round,  and  was  quite 
full  of  water,  the  surface  of  which  was  covered  with  a 
scanty,  but  tall,  rushy  grass.  In  the  lake,  browsing 
upon  the  grass,  we  counted  twenty-three  elephants,  and 
there  were  many  little  ones,  no  doubt,  that  we  could 
not  distinguish  in  such  rank  vegetation.  Five  large 
elephants  were  not  more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty 
paces  distant ;  the  remaining  eighteen  were  in  a  long 
line  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  shore,  feeding 
in  deep  water. 

We  were  well  concealed  by  the  various  trees  which 
grew  upon  the  dam,  and  we  passed  half  an  hour  in 
watching  the  manoeuvres  of  the  great  beasts  as  they 
bathed  and  sported  in  the  cool  water.  ~  However,  this 
was  not  elephant-shooting,  and  the  question  was,  How 
to  get  at  them  ?  The  natives  had  no  idea  of  the  sport, 
as  they  seemed  to  think  it  very  odd  that  we  did  not  fire 
at  those  within  a  hundred  paces'  distance.  I  now 
regretted  my  absent  gun-bearers,  as  I  plainly  saw  that 
these  village  people  would  be  worse  than  useless. 

We  determined  to  take  a  stroll  along  the  base  of  the 
dam  to  reconnoitre  the  ground,  as  at  present  it  seemed 


Elephant -Shooting.  205 

impossible  to  make  an  attack ;  and  even  were  the  ele- 
phants within  the  forest,  there  appeared  to  be  no  possi- 
bility of  following  them  up  through  such  deep  water 
and  heavy  ground  with  any  chance  of  success.  How- 
ever, they  were  not  in  the  forest,  being  safe,  belly  and 
shoulder  deep,  in  the  tank. 

We  strolled  through  mud  and  water  thigh-deep  for  a 
few  hundred  paces,  when  we  suddenly  came  upon  the 
spot  where  in  ages  past  the  old  dam  had  been  carried 
away.  Here  the  natives  had  formed  a  mud  embank- 
ment strengthened  by  sticks  and  wattles.  Poor  fellows  ! 
we  were  not  surprised  at  their  wishing  the  elephants 
destroyed ;  the  repair  of  their  fragile  dam  was  now  a 
daily  occupation,  for  the  elephants,  as  though  out  of 
pure  mischief,  had  chosen  this  spot  as  their  thorough- 
fare to  and  from  the  lake,  and  the  dam  was  trodden 
down  in  all  directions. 

We  found  that  the  margin  of  the  forest  was  every- 
where flooded  to  a  width  of  about  two  hundred  yards, 
after  which  it  was  tolerably  dry  ;  we  therefore  returned 
to  our  former  post. 

It  struck  me  that  the  only  way  to  secure  a  shot  at  the 
herd  would  be  to  employ  a  ruse,  which  I  had  once 
practiced  successfully  some  years  ago.  Accordingly 
we  sent  the  greater  part  of  the  villagers  for  about  a 
half  a  mile  along  the  edge  of  the  lake,  with  orders  to 
shout  and  make  a  grand  hullaballoo  on  arriving  at  their 
station.  It  seemed  most  probable  that  on  being  dis- 
turbed the  elephants  would  retreat  to  the  forest  by  their 
usual  thoroughfare  ;  we  accordingly  stood  on  the  alert, 
ready  for  a  rush  to  any  given  point  which  the  herd 
should  attempt  in  their  retreat. 

Some  time  passed   in  expectation,  when  a  sudden 

18 


2o6        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

yell  broke  from  the  far  point,  as  though  twenty  demons 
had  cramp  in  the  stomach.  Gallant  fellows  are  the 
Cingalese  at  making  a  noise,  and  a  grand  effect  this  had 
upon  the  elephants  ;  up  went  tails  and  trunks,  the  whole 
herd  closed  together  and  made  a  simultaneous  rush  for 
their  old  thoroughfare.  Away  we  skipped  through  the 
water,  straight  in  shore  through  the  forest,  until  we 
reached  the  dry  ground,  when,  turning  sharp  to  our 
right,  we  soon  halted  exactly  opposite  the  point  at 
which  we  knew  the  elephants  would  enter  the  forest. 
This  was  grand  excitement ;  we  had  a  great  start  of 
the  herd,  so  that  we  had  plenty  of  time  to  arrange  gun- 
bearers  and  take  our  position  for  the  rencontre. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  roar  of  water  caused  by  the 
rapid  passage  of  so  many  large  animals  approached 
nearer  and  nearer.  Pallser  and  I  had  taken  splendid 
positions,  so  as  to  command  either  side  of  the  herd  on 
their  arrival,  with  our  gun-bearers  squatted  around  113 
behind  our  respective  trees,  while  the  non-sporting 
village  followers,  who  now  began  to  think  the  matter 
rather  serious  and  totally  devoid  of  fun,  scrambled  up 
various  large  trees  with  ape-like  activity. 

A  few  minutes  of  glorious  suspense,  and  the  grand 
crash  and  roar  of  broken  water  approached  close  at 
hand,  and  we  distinguished  the  mighty  phalanx,  headed 
by  the  largest  elephants,  bearing  down  exactly  upon  us, 
and  not  a  hundred  yards  distant.  Here  was  luck! 
There  was  a  grim  and  very  murderous  smile  of  satis- 
faction on  either  countenance  as  we  quietly  cocked  the 
rifles  and  awaited  the  onset :  it  was  our  intention  to  let 
half  the  herd  pass  us  before  we  opened  upon  them,  as 
we  should  then  be  in  the  very  centre  of  the  mass,  and 
be  able  to  get  good  and  rapid  shooting. 


The  Rencontre.  207 

On  came  the  herd  in  gallant  style,  throwing  the  spray 
from  the  muddy  water,  and  keeping  a  direct  line  for 
our  concealed  position.  They  were  within  twenty 
yards,  and  we  were  still  undiscovered,  when  those  ras- 
cally villagers,  who  had  already  taken  to  the  trees, 
sci  ambled  still  higher  in  their  fright  at  the  close  ap- 
proach of  the  elephants,  and  by  this  movement  they 
gave  immediate  alarm  to  the  leaders  of  the  herd. 

Round  went  the  colossal  heads ;  right  about  was 
the  word,  and  away  dashed  the  whole  herd  back  toward 
the  tank.  In  the  same  instant  we  made  a  rush  in 
among  them,  and  I  floored  one  of  the  big  leaders  by  a 
shot  behind  the  ear,  and  immediately  after,  as  bad  luck 
would  have  it,  Palliser  and  I  both  took  the  same  bird, 
and  down  went  another  to  the  joint  shots.  Palliser 
then  got  another  shot  and  bagged  one  more,  when  the 
herd  pushed  straight  out  to  the  deep  lake,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  few  elephants,  who  turned  to  the  right ; 
after  which  Palliser  hurried  through  the  mud  and  water, 
while  I  put  on  all  steam  in  chase  of  the  main  body  of 
the  herd.  It  is  astonishing  to  what  an  amount  a  man 
can  get  up  this  said  steam  in  such  a  pitch  of  excitement. 
However,  it  was  of  no  use  in  this  case,  as  I  was  soon 
hip-deep  in  water,  and  there  was  aq  end  to  all  pursuit 
in  that  direction. 

It  immediately  struck  me  that  the  elephants  would 
again  retreat  to  some  other  part  of  the  forest  after  hav- 
ing made  a  circuit  in  the  tank.  I  accordingly  waded 
back  at  my  best  speed  to  terra  Jirma,  and  then  striking 
off  to  my  right,  I  ran  along  parallel  to  the  water  for 
about  half  a  mile,  fully  expecting  to  meet  the  herd 
once  more  on  their  entrance  to  the  jungle.  It  was  now 
tnat  I  deplored  the  absence  of  my  regular  gun-bearers ; 


208        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

the  village  people  had  no  taste  for  this  gigantic  scale  of 
amusement,  and  the  men  who  carried  my  guns  would 
not  keep  up  ;  fortunately,  Carrasi,  the  best  gun-bearer, 
was  there,  and  he  had  taken  another  loaded  rifle,  after 
handing  me  that  which  he  had  carried  at  the  onset.  I 
waited  a  few  moments  for  the  lagging  men,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  them  well  together  just  as  I  heard 
the  rush  of  water,  as  the  elephants  were  again  entering 
the  jungle,  not  far  in  advance  of  the  spot  upon  which  I 
stood. 

This  time  they  were  sharp  on  the  qui  vive,  and  the 
bulls,  being  well  to  the  front,  were  keeping  a  bright 
look-out.  It  was  in  vain  that  I  endeavored  to  conceal 
myself  until  the  herd  had  got  well  into  the  forest ;  the 
gun-bearers  behind  me  did  not  take  the  same  precau- 
tion, and  the  leading  elephants  both  saw  and  winded 
us  when  at  a  hundred  paces  distant.  This  time,  how- 
ever, they  were  determined  to  push  on  for  a  piece  of 
thicker  jungle,  which  they  knew  lay  in  this  direction, 
and  upon  seeing  me  running  toward  them,  they  did  not 
turn  back  to  the  lake,  but  slightly  altered  their  course 
in  an  oblique  direction,  still  continuing  to  push  on 
through  the  forest,  while  I  was  approaching  at  right 
angles  with  the  herd. 

Hallooing  and  screaming  at  them  with  all  my  might 
to  tease  some  of  the  old  bulls  into  a  charge,  I  ran  at 
top  speed  through  the  fine  open  forest,  and  soon  got 
among  a  whole  crowd  of  half-grown  elephants,  at 
which  I  would  not  fire  ;  there  were  a  lot  of  fine  beasts 
pushing  along  in  the  front,  and  toward  these  I  ran  as 
hard  as  I  could  go.  Unfortunately,  the  herd  seeing  me 
so  near  and  gaining  upon  them,  took  to  the  ruse  of  a 
beaten  fleet  and  scattered  in  all  directions ;  but  I  kept 


The  Charge.  209 

a  few  big  fellows  in  view,  who  were  still  pretty  well 
together,  and  managed  to  overtake  the  rearmost  and 
knock  him  over.  Up  went  the  tail  and  trunk  of  one 
of  the  leading  bulls  at  the  report  of  the  shot,  and 
trumpeting  shrilly,  he  ran  first  to  one  side,  then  to  the 
other,  with  his  ears  cocked  and  sharply  turning  his 
head  to  either  side.  I  knew  this  fellow  had  his  monkey 
up,  and  that  a  little  teasing  would  bring  him  round  for 
a  charge.  I  therefore  redoubled  my  shouts  and  yells 
and  kept  on  in  full  chase,  as  the  elephants  were  strain- 
ing every  nerve  to  reach  a  piece  of  thick  jungle  within 
a  couple  of  hundred  paces. 

I  could  not  go  any  faster,  and  I  saw  that  the  herd, 
which  was  thirty  or  forty  yards  ahead  of  me,  would 
gain  the  jungle  before  I  could  overtake  them,  as  they 
were  going  at  a  slapping  pace  and  I  was  tolerably 
blown  with  a  long  run  at  full  speed,  part  of  which  had 
been  through  deep  mud  and  water.  But  I  still  teased 
the  bull,  who  was  now  in  such  an  excited  state  that  I 
felt  convinced  he  would  turn  to  charge. 

The  leading  elephants  rushed  into  the  thick  jungle, 
closely  followed  by  the  others,  and,  to  my  astonishment, 
my  excited  friend,  who  had  lagged  to  the  rear,  followed 
their  example.  But  it  was  only  for  a  few  seconds,  for, 
on  entering  the  thick  bushes,  he  wheeled  sharp  round 
and  came  rushing  out  in  full  charge.  This  was  very 
plucky,  but  very  foolish,  as  his  retreat  was  secured  when 
in  the  thick  jungle,  and  yet  he  courted  further  battle. 
This  he  soon  had  enough  of,  as  I  bagged  him  in  his 
onset  with  my  remaining  barrel  by  the  forehead  shot. 

I  now  heard  a  tremendous  roaring  of  elephants  be- 
hind  me,  as  though  another  section  was  coming   in 
from  the  tank ;  this  I  hoped  to  meet.     I  therefore  re- 
18*  0 


2IO        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

loaded  the  empty  rifles  as  quickly  as  possible  and  ran 
toward  the  spot.  The  roaring  still  continued  and  was 
apparently  almost  stationary  ;  and  what  was  my  disap- 
pointment, on  arrival,  to  find,  m  place  of  the  expected 
herd,  a  young  elephant  of  about  four  feet  high,  who 
had  missed  the  main  body  in  the  retreat  and  was  now 
roaring  for  his  departed  friends  !  These  young  things 
are  excessively  foolhardy  and  willful,  and  he  charged 
me  the  moment  I  arrived.  As  I  laid  the  rifle  upon  the 
ground  instead  of  firing  at  him,  the  rascally  gun- 
bearers,  with  the  exception  of  Carrasi,  threw  down  the 
rifles  and  ran  up  the  trees  like  so  many  monkeys,  just 
as  I  had  jumped  on  one  side  and  caught  the  young  ele- 
phant by  the  tail.  He  was  far  too  strong  for  me  to 
hold,  and,  although  I  dug  my  heels  into  the  ground 
and  held  on  with  all  my  might,  he  fairly  ran  away  with 
me  through  the  forest.  Carrasi  now  came  to  my  as- 
sistance and  likewise  held  on  by  his  tail ;  but  away  we 
went  like  the  tender  to  a  ?'eam-engine ;  wherever  the 
elephant  went  there  we  were  dragged  in  company. 
Another  man  now  came  to  the  rescue  ;  but  his  assist- 
ance was  not  of  the  slightest  use,  as  the  animal  was  so 
powerful  and  of  such  weight  that  he  could  have  run 
away  with  half  a  dozen  of  us  unless  his  legs  were  tied. 
Unfortunately  we  had  no  rope,  or  I  could  have  secured 
him  immediately,  and  seeing  that  we  had  no  power 
over  him  whatever,  I  was  obliged  to  run  back  for  one 
of  the  guns  to  shoot  him.  On  my  return  it  was  laugh- 
able to  see  the  pace  at  which  he  was  running  away 
with  the  two  men,  who  were  holding  on  to  his  tail  like 
grim  death,  the  elephant  not  having  ceased  roaring 
during  the  run.  I  accordingly  settled  him,  and  re- 
turned to  have  a  little  conversation  with  the  rascals 


Punishing  a    Cingalese.  211 

who  were  still  perched  in  the  trees.  I  was  extremely 
annoyed,  as  these  people,  if  they  had  possessed  a  grain 
of  sense,  might  have  tied  their  long  comboys  (cotton 
cloths  about  eight  feet  long)  together,  and  we  might 
have  thus  secured  the  elephant  without  difficulty  by 
tying  his  hind  legs.  It  was  a  great  loss,  as  he  was  so 
large  that  he  might  have  been  domesticated  and  driven 
to  Newera  Ellia  without  the  slightest  trouble.  All  this 
was  occasioned  by  the  cowardice  of  these  villainous 
Cingalese,  and  upon  my  lecturing  one  fellow  on  his 
conduct  he  began  to  laugh.  This  was  too  much  for 
any  person's  patience,  and  I  began  to  look  for  a  stick, 
which  the  fellow  perceiving  he  immediately  started  oft' 
through  the  forest  like  a  deer.  He  could  run  faster 
than  I  could,  being  naked  and  having  the  advantage  of 
bare  feet ;  but  I  knew  I  could  run  him  down  in  the 
course  of  time,  especially  as,  being  in  a  fright,  he 
would  soon  get  blown.  We  had  a  most  animated  hunt 
through  water,  mud,  roots  of  trees,  open  forest  and  all 
kinds  of  ground,  but  I  ran  into  him  at  last  in  heavy 
ground,  and  I  dare  say  he  recollects  the  day  of  the 
month. 

In  the  mean  time,  Palliser  had  heard  the  roaring  of 
the  elephant,  followed  by  the  screaming  and  yelling  of 
the  coolies,  and  succeeded  by  a  shot.  Shortly  after  he 
heard  the  prolonged  yells  of  the  hunted  villager  while 
he  was  hastening  toward  my  direction.  This  combina- 
tion of  sounds  naturally  led  him  to  expect  that  some 
accident  had  occurred,  especially  as  some  of  the  yells 
indicated  -that  somebody  had  come  to  grief.  This 
caused  him  a  very  laborious  run,  arid  he  arrived 
thoroughly  blown,  and  with  a  natural  desire  to  kick  the 
recreant  villager  who  had  caused  the  yells. 


212        Eight  Fears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

If  the  ground  had  been  even  tolerably  dry,  we  should 
have  killed  a  large  number  of  elephants  out  of  this 
herd ;  but,  as  it  happened,  in  such  deep  mud  and  water 
the  elephants  had  it  all  their  own  way,  and  our  joint 
bag  could  not  produce  more  than  seven  tails  ;  however, 
this  was  far  more  than  I  had  expected  when  I  first  saw 
the  herd  in  such  a  secure  position. 

On  our  return  to  the  village  we  found  Palliser's  horse 
terribly  gored  by  a  buffalo,  and  we  were  obliged  to 
leave  him  behind  for  some  weeks ;  fortunately,  there 
was  an  extra  pony,  which  served  him  as  a  mount 
home,  a  distance  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

***** 

This  has  been  a  sad  digression  from  our  argument 
upon  instinct  and  reason,  a  most  unreasonable  depart- 
ure from  the  subject ;  but  this  is  my  great  misfortune  ; 
so  sure  as  I  bring  forward  the  name  of  an  elephant, 
the  pen  lays  hold  of  some  old  story  and  runs  madly 
away  in  a  day's  shooting.  I  now  have  to  speak  of  the 
reasoning  powers  of  the  canine  race,  and  I  confess  my 
weakness.  I  feel  perfectly  certain  that  the  pen  will 
serve  me  the  same  trick,  and  that  it  will  be  plunging 
through  a  day's  hunting  to  prove  the  existence  of  reason 
in  a  hound  and  the  want  of  it  in  the  writer.  Thrash 
me,  good  critics ;  I  deserve  it ;  lay  it  on  with  an  un- 
sparing thong.  I  am  humiliated,  but  still  willful ;  I 
know  my  fault,  but  still  continue  it. 

Let  us  think;  what  was  the  subject?  Reason  in 
dogs,  to  be  sure.  Well,  every  one  who  has  a  dog  must 
admit  that  he  has  a  strong  share  of  reason  ;  only  ob- 
serve him  as  he  sits  by  your  side  and  wistfully  watches 
the  endless  transit  of  piece  after  piece,  bit  after  bit,  as 
the  fork  is  conveying  delicate  morsels  to  your  mouth. 


Sagacity  of  Dogs.  213 

There  is  neither  hope  nor  despair  exhibited  in  his 
countenance — he  knows  those  pieces  are  not  for  him. 
There  is  an  expression  of  impatience  about  the  eye  as 
he  scans  your  features,  which  seems  to  say,  "  Greedy 
fellow !  what,  not  one  bit  for  me  ?"  Only  cut  a  slice 
from  the  exterior  of  the  joint — a  piece  that  he  knows 
you  will  not  eat — and  watch  the  change  and  eager- 
ness of  his  expression  ;  he  knows  as  well  as  you  do 
that  this  is  intended  for  him — he  has  reasoned  upon 
it. 

This  is  the  simple  and  every-day  performance  of  a 
common  house-dog.  Observe  the  pointers  in  a  field  of 
close-cut  stubble — two  well-broken,  reasonable  old 
dogs.  The  birds  are  wild,  and  have  been  flushed 
several  times  during  the  day,  and  the  old  dog  has 
winded  them  now  in  this  close-cut  stubble,  from  which 
he  knows  the  covey  will  rise  at  a  long  range.  Watch 
his  expression  of  intense  and  yet  careful  excitement, 
as  he  draws  upon  his  game,  step  by  step,  crouching 
close  to  the  ground,  and  occasionally  moving  his  head 
slowly  round  to  see  if  his  master  is  close  up.  Look  at 
the  bitch  at  the  other  end  of  the  field,  backing  him  like 
a  statue,  while  the  old  dog  still  creeps  on.  Not  a  step 
farther  will  he  move  ;  his  lower  jaw  trembles  with  ex- 
citement ;  the  guns  advance  to  a  line  with  his  shoulder ; 
up  they  rise,  whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z  ! — bang  !  bang  !  See  how 
the  excitement  of  the  dog  is  calmed  as  he  falls  to  the 
down  charge,  and  afterward  with  what  pleasure  he 
follows  up  and  stands  to  the  dead  birds.  If  this  is  not 
reason,  there  is  no  such  thing  in  existence. 

Again,  look  at  the  sheep-dog.  What  can  be  more 
beautiful  than  to  watch  the  judgment  displayed  by  these 
dogs  in  driving  a  large  flock  of  sheep?  Then  turn  to 


214        Eight  Years'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon, 

the  Mont  St.  Bernard  dog  and  the  Newfoundland,  and 
countless  instances  could  be  produced  as  proofs  of  their 
wonderful  share  of  reasoning  power. 

The  different  classes  of  hounds,  being  kept  in  kennels, 
do  not  exhibit  this  power  to  the  same  amount  as  many 
others,  as  they  are  not  sufficiently  domesticated,  and 
their  intercourse  with  man  is  confined  to  the  one  par- 
ticular branch  of  hunting ;  but  in  this  pursuit  they  will 
afford  many  striking  proofs  that  they,  in  like  manner 
with  their  other  brethren,  are  not  devoid  of  the  reason- 
ing power. 

Poor  old  "  Bluebeard  !" — he  had  an  almost  human 
share  of  understanding,  but  being  simply  a  hound, 
this  was  confined  to  elk-hunting ;  he  was  like  the  fox- 
hunter  of  the  last  century,  whose  ideas  did  not  extend 
beyond  his  sport ;  but  in  this  he  was  perfect. 

Bluebeard  was  a  foxhound,  bred  at  Newera  Ellia,  in 
1847,  by  F.  J.  Templer,  Esq.  He  subsequently  be- 
longed to  F.  H.  Palliser,  Esq.,  who  kindly  added  him 
to  my  kennel. 

He  was  a  wonderful  hound  on  a  cold  scent,  and  so 
thoroughly  was  he  versed  in  all  the  habits  of  an  elk 
that  he  knew  exactly  where  to  look  for  one.  I  am  con- 
vinced that  he  knew  the  date  of  a  track  from  its  appear- 
ance, as  I  have  constantly  seen  him  shove  his  nose 
into  the  deep  impression,  to  try  for  a  scent  when  the 
track  was  some  eight  or  ten  hours'  old. 

It  was  a  curious  thing  to  watch  his  cleverness  at 
finding  on  a  patina.  In  most  of  the  plains  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Newera  Ellia  a  small  stream  flows 
through  the  centre.  To  this  the  elk,  who  are  out  feed- 
ing in  the  night,  are  sure  to  repair  at  about  four  in  the 
morning  for  their  last  drink,  and  I  usually  try  along  the 


Bluebeard.  215 

banks  a  little  after  daylight  for  a  find,  where  the  scent 
is  fresh  and  the  tracks  are  distinctly  visible. 

While  every  hound  has  been  eagerly  winding  the 
scent  upon  the  circuitous  route  which  the  elk  has  made 
in  grazing,  Bluebeard  would  never  waste  his  time  in 
attempting  to  follow  the  innumerable  windings,  but, 
taking  a  fresh  cast,  he  would  invariably  strike  off  to 
the  jungle  and  try  along  the  edge,  until  he  reached  the 
spot  at  which  the  elk  had  entered.  At  these  times  he 
committed  the  only  fault  which  he  possessed  (for  an 
elk-hound)  ;  he  would  immediately  open  upon  the 
scent,  and,  by  alarming  the  elk  at  too  great  a  distance, 
would  give  him  too  long  a  start.  Nevertheless,  he 
made  up  for  this  by  his  wonderful  correctness  and 
knowledge  of  his  game,  and  if  the  run  was  increased 
in  length  by  his  early  note,  we  nevertheless  ran  into 
our  game  at  last. 

Some  years  ago  he  met  with  an  accident  which 
partly  deprived  him  of  the  use  of  one  of  his  hind  legs  ; 
this  made  the  poor  old  fellow  very  slow,  but  it  did  not 
interfere  with  his  finding  and  hunting,  although  the 
rest  of  the  pack  would  shoot  ahead,  and  the  elk  was 
frequently  brought  to  bay  and  killed  before  old  Blue- 
beard had  finished  his  hunt ;  but  he  was  never  thrown 
out,  and  was  sure  to  come  up  at  last ;  and  if  the  pack 
were  at  fault  during  the  run,  he  was  the  hound  to  show 
them  the  right  road  on  his  arrival. 

I  once  saw  an  interesting  proof  of  his  reasoning 
powers  during  a  long  and  difficult  hunt. 

I  was  hunting  for  a  few  days  at  the  Angora  patinas,- 
accompanied  by  Palliser.  These  are  about  five  hundred 
feet  lower  than  Newera  Ellia,  and  are  situated  in  the 
district  of  Dimboola.  They  are  composed  of  undulating 


2i 6       Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

knolls  of  fine  grass,  with  a  large  and  deep  river  flowing 
through  the  centre.  These  patinas  are  surrounded  by 
wooded  hills  of  good  open  jungle. 

We  had  found  upon  the  patina  at  break  of  day,  and 
the  whole  pack  had  gone  ofFin  full  cry  ;  but  the  where- 
about was  very  uncertain,  and  having  long  lost  all 
sound  of  the  hounds  we  wandered  here  and  there  to  no 
purpose.  At  length  we  separated,  and  took  up  our 
stations  upon  different  knolls  to  watch  the  patina  and 
to  listen. 

The  hill  upon  which  I  stood  commanded  an  exten- 
sive view  of  the  patina,  while  the  broad  river  flowed  at 
the  base,  after  its  exit  from  the  jungle.  I  had  been  only 
a  few  minutes  at  my  post  when  I  observed,  at  about 
six  hundred  yards  distant,  a  strong  ripple  in  the  river 
like  the  letter  V,  and  it  immediately  struck  me  that  an 
elk  had  come  down  the  river  from  the  jungle  and  was 
swimming  down  the  stream.  This  was  soon  proved  to 
be  the  case,  as  I  saw  the  head  of  a  doe  elk  in  the  acute 
angle  of  the  ripple. 

I  had  the  greyhounds  with  me,  "  Lucifer,"  "  Lena," 
"  Hecate"  and  "  Bran,"  and  I  ran  down  the  hill  with 
these  dogs,  hoping  to  get  them  a  view  of  her  as  she 
landed  on  the  patina.  I  had  several  bogs  and  hollows 
to  cross,  and  I  accordingly  lost  sight  of  the  elk  ;  but 
upon  arriving  at  the  spot  where  I  imagined  the  elk 
would  land,  I  saw  her  going  off  across  the  patina,  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away.  The  greyhounds  saw  her,  and 
away  they  flew  over  the  short  grass,  while  the  pack 
began  to  appear  from  the  jungle,  having  come  down  to 
the  halloo  that  I  had  given  on  first  seeing  the  elk  swim- 
ming down  the  river. 

The  elk  seemed  determined  to  give  a  beautiful  course, 


A  True  Hound.  217 

for,  instead  of  pushing  straight  for  the  jungle,  she  made 
a  great  circuit  on  the  patina,  as  though  in  the  endeavor 
to  make  once  more  for  the  river.  The  long-legged  ones 
were  going  at  a  tremendous  pace,  and,  being  fresh,  they 
rapidly  overhauled  her  ;  gradually  the  distance  between 
them  diminished,  and  at  length  they  had  a  fair  course 
down  a  gentle  inclination  which  led  toward  the  river. 
Here  the  greyhounds  soon  made  an  end  of  the  hunt ; 
their  game  was  within  a  hundred  yards,  going  at  top 
speed :  but  it  was  all  up  with  the  elk  ;  the  pace  was 
too  good,  and  they  ran  into  her  and  pulled  her  down 
just  as  the  other  hounds  had  come  down  upon  my 
scent. 

We  were  cutting  up  the  elk,  when  we  presently 
heard  old  Bluebeard's  voice  far  away  in  the  jungle,  and, 
thinking  that  he  might  perhaps  be  running  another  elk, 
we  ran  to  a  hill  which  overlooked  the  river  and  kept 
a  bright  look-out.  We  soon  discovered  that  he  was 
true  upon  the  same  game,  and  we  watched  his  plan  of 
hunting,  being  anxious  to  see  whether  he  could  hunt 
up  an  elk  that  had  kept  to  water  for  so  long  a  time. 

On  his  entrance  to  the  patina  by  the  river's  bank  he 
immediately  took  to  water  and  swam  across  the  stream  ; 
here  he  carefully  hunted  the  edge  for  several  hundred 
yards  down  the  river,  but,  finding  nothing,  he  returned 
to  the  jungle  at  the  point  from  which  the  river  flowed. 
Here  he  again  took  to  water,  and,  swimming  back  to 
the  bank  from  which  he  had  at  first  started,  he  landed 
and  made  a  vain  cast  down  the  hollow.  Back  he  re- 
turned after  his  fruitless  search,  and  once  more  he  took 
to  water.  I  began  to  despair  of  the  possibility  of  his 
finding ;  but  the  true  old  hound  was  now  swimming 
steadily  down  the  stream,  crossing  and  recrossing  from 
19 


218        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

either  bank,  and  still  pursuing  his  course  down  the 
river.  At  length  he  neared  the  spot  where  I  knew  that 
the  elk  had  landed,  and  we  eagerly  watched  to  see  if  he 
would  pass  the  scent,  as  he  was  now  several  yards  from 
the  bank.  He  was  nearly  abreast  of  the  spot,  when  he 
turned  sharp  in  and  landed  in  the  exact  place  ;  his  deep 
and  joyous  note  rung  across  the  patinas,  and  away  went 
the  gallant  old  hound  in  full  cry  upon  the  scent,  while 
I  could  not  help  shouting,  "  Hurrah  for  old  Blue- 
beard !"  In  a  few  minutes  he  was  by  the  side  of  the 
dead  elk — a  specimen  of  a  true  hound,  who  certainly 
had  exhibited  a  large  share  of  "reason." 


CHAPTER    X. 

WILD  FRUITS  —  INGREDIENTS  FOR  A  "  SOUPE  MAIGRE  " — OR- 
CHIDACEOUS PLANTS — WILD  NUTMEGS  —  NATIVE  OILS  — 

CINNAMON  —  PRIMEVAL     FOREST  —  VALUABLE     WOODS 

THE  MAHAWELLI  RIVER — VARIETY  OF  PALMS— COCOA- 
NUT  TODDY  —  ARRACK  —  COCOA-NUT  OIL  —  COCOA-NUT 
PLANTING  —  THE  TALIPOT  PALM  —  THE  ARECA  PALM — 

BETEL-CHEWING  —  SAGO     NUTS VARIETY    OF     BEES 

WASTE  OF  BEESWAX — EDIBLE  FUNGI  —  NARCOTIC  PUFF- 
BALL —  INTOXICATING  DRUGS  —  POISONED  CAKES  —  THE 
"SACK  TREE" — NO  GUM  TREES  OF  VALUE  IN  CEYLON. 

AMONG  the  inexperienced  there  is  a  prevalent  idea 
connected  with  tropical  forests  and  jungles  that 
they  teem  with  wild  fruits,  which  Nature  is  supposed 
to  produce  spontaneously.  Nothing  can  be  more 
erroneous  than  such  an  opinion  ;  even  edible  berries  are 
scantily  supplied  by  the  wild  shrubs  and  trees,  and 
these,  in  lieu  of  others  of  superior  quality,  are  some- 
times dignified  by  the  name  of  fruit. 

The  guava  and  the  katumbille  are  certainly  very 
numerous  throughout  the  Ouva  district ;  the  latter  being 
a  dark  red,  rough-skinned  kind  of  plum,  the  size  of  a 
greengage,  but  free  from  stone.  It  grows  upon  a 
thorny  bush  about  fifteen  feet  high  ;  but  the  fruit  is  too 
acid  to  please  most  palates  ;  the  extreme  thirst  produced 
by  a  day's  shooting  in  a  burning  sun  makes  it  refresh- 

219 


220        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

ing  when  plucked  from  the  tree  ;  but  it  does  not  aspire 
to  the  honor  of  a  place  at  a  table,  where  it  can  only  ap- 
pear in  the  form  of  red  currant  jelly,  for  which  it  is  an 
undeniable  substitute. 

Excellent  blackberries  and  a  very  large  and  full- 
flavored  black  raspberry  grow  at  Newera  Ellia  ;  likewise 
the  Cape  gooseberry,  which  is  of  the  genus  "  solanum." 
The  latter  is  a  round  yellow  berry,  the  size  of  a  cherry  ; 
this  is  enclosed  in  a  loose  bladder,  which  forms  an 
outer  covering.  The  flavor  is  highly  aromatic,  but, 
like  most  Ceylon  wild  fruits,  it  is  too  acid. 

The  sweetest  and  the  best  of  the  jungle  productions 
is  the  "  morra."  This  is  a  berry  about  the  size  of  a 
small  nutmeg,  which  grows  in  clusters  upon  a  large 
tree  of  rich  dark  foliage.  The  exterior  of  the  berry  is 
brown  and  slightly  rough  ;  the  skin,  or  rather  the  case, 
is  brittle  and  of  the  consistence  of  an  egg-shell ;  this, 
when  broken  and  peeled  off,  exposes  a  semi-transparent 
pulp,  like  a  skinned  grape  in  appearance  and  in  flavor. 
It  is  extremely  juicy  ;  but,  unfortunately,  a  large  black 
stone  occupies  the  centre  and  at  least  one-half  of  the 
bulk  of  the  entire  fruit. 

The  jambo  apple  is  a  beautiful  fruit  in  appearance, 
being  the  fac-simile  of  a  snow-white  pear  formed  of 
wax,  with  a  pink  blush  upon  one  side.  Its  exterior 
beauty  is  all  that  it  can  boast  of,  as  the  fruit  itself  is 
vapid  and  tasteless.  In  fact,  all  wild  fruits  are,  for  the 
most  part,  great  exaggerations.  I  have  seen  in  a  work 
on  Ceylon  the  miserable  little  acid  berry  of  the  rattan, 
which  is  no  larger  than  a  currant,  described  as  a  fruit ; 
hawthorn  berries  might,  with  equal  justice,  be  classed 
among  the  fruits  of  Great  Britain. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  these  paltry  produc- 


Ingredients  for  a  "Soupe  Mat'gre"          221 

tions  in  detail ;  there  is  necessarily  a  great  variety 
throughout  the  island,  but  their  insignificance  does  not 
entitle  them  to  a  description  which  would  raise  them 
far  above  their  real  merit. 

It  is  nevertheless  most  useful  to  a  sportsman  in  Cey- 
lon to  possess  a  sufficient  stock  of  botanical  information 
for  his  personal  convenience.  A  man  may  be  lost  in 
the  jungles  or  hard  up  for  provisions  in  some  out-of- 
the-way  place,  where,  if  he  has  only  a  saucepan,  he  can 
generally  procure  something  eatable  in  the  way  of 
herbs.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed,  however,  that  he 
would  succeed  in  making  a  good  dinner ;  the  reader 
may  at  any  time  procure  something  similar  in  England 
by  restricting  himself  to  nettle-tops — an  economical  but 
not  a  fattening  vegetable.  Anything,  however  simple, 
is  better  than  an  empty  stomach,  and  when  the  latter  is 
positively  empty  it  is  wonderful  how  the  appetite  wel- 
comes the  most  miserable  fare. 

At  Newera  Ellia  the  jungles  would  always  produce 
a  supply  for  a  soupe  maigre.  There  is  an  esculent 
nillho  which  grows  in  the  forest  in  the  bottoms  of  the 
swampy  ravines.  This  is  a  most  succulent  plant,  which 
grows  to  the  height  or  length  of  about  seven  feet,  as  its 
great  weight  keeps  it  close  to  the  ground.  It  is  so  brit- 
tle that  it  snaps  like  a  cucumber  when  struck  by  a 
stick,  and  it  bears  a  delicate,  dark-blue  blossom.  When 
stewed,  it  is  as  tender  as  the  vegetable  marrow,  but  its 
flavor  approaches  more  closely  to  that  of  the  cucumber. 
Wild  ginger  also  abounds  in  the  forests.  This  is  a 
coarse  variety  of  the  "  amomum  zingiber."  The  leaves, 
which  spring  from  the  ground,  attain  a  height  of  seven 
or  eight  feet ;  a  large,  crimson,  fleshy  blossom  also 
springs  from  the  ground  in  the  centre  of  the  surround* 
19* 


232        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

ing  leaf-stems.  The  root  is  coarse,  large,  but  wanting 
in  fine  flavor,  although  the  young  tubers  are  exceedingly 
tender  and  delicate.  This  is  the  favorite  food  of  ele- 
phants on  the  Ceylon  mountains ;  but  it  is  a  curious 
fact  that  they  invariably  reject  the  leaves,  which  any  one 
would  suppose  would  be  their  choicest  morsel,  as  they 
are  both  succulent  and  plentiful.  The  elephants  simply 
use  them  as  a  handle  for  tearing  up  the  roots,  which 
they  bite  off  and  devour,  throwing  the  leaves  on  one 
side. 

The  wild  parsnip  is  also  indigenous  to  the  plains  on 
the  mountains.  As  usual  with  most  wild  plants  of  this 
class,  it  has  little  or  no  root,  but  runs  to  leaf.  The 
seeds  are  very  highly  flavored,  and  are  gathered  by  the 
natives  for  their  curries. 

There  is,  likewise,  a  beautiful  orchidaceous  plant, 
which  is  very  common  throughout  the  patinas  on  the 
mountains,  and  which  produces  the  very  finest  quality 
of  arrowroot.  So  much  is  this  valued  in  the  Nepaul 
country  in  India,  that  I  have  been  assured  by  a  person 
well  acquainted  with  that  locality,  that  this  quality  of 
arrowroot  is  usually  sold  for  its  weight  in  rupees.  In 
vain  have  I  explained  this  to  the  Cingalese  ;  they  will 
not  attempt  its  preparation  because  their  fathers  did  not 
eat  it ;  and  yet  these  same  men  will  walk  forty  miles  to 
cut  a  bundle  of  sticks  of  the  galla  gaha  tree  for  driving 
buffaloes ! — their  fathers  did  this,  and  therefore  they  do 
it.  Thus  this  beautiful  plant  is  only  appreciated  by 
those  whose  instinct  leads  them  to  its  discovery.  The 
wild  hogs  plough  up  the  patinas  and  revel  in  this  deli- 
cate food.  The  plant  itself  is  almost  lost  in  the  rank 
herbage  of  the  patinas,  but  its  beautiful  pink,  hyacinth- 
shaped  blossom  attracts  immediate  attention.  Few 


Orchidaceous  Plants.  223 

plants  combine  beauty  of  appearance,  scent  and  utility, 
but  this  is  the  perfection  of  each  quality — nothing  can 
surpass  the  delicacy  and  richness  of  its  perfume.  It 
has  two  small  bulbs  about  an  inch  below  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  and  these,  when  broken,  exhibit  a  highly 
granulated  texture,  semi-transparent  like  half-boiled 
sago.  From  these  bulbs  the  arrowroot  is  produced  by 
pounding  them  in  water  and  drying  the  precipitated 
farina  in  the  sun. 

There  are  several  beautiful  varieties  of  orchidaceous 
plants  upon  the  mountains ;  among  others,  several  spe- 
cies of  the  dendrobium.  Its  rich  yellow  flowers  hang 
in  clusters  from  a  withered  tree,  the  only  sign  of  life 
upon  a  giant  trunk  decayed,  like  a  wreath  upon  a 
grave.  The  scent  of  this  flower  is  well  known  as  most 
delicious ;  one  plant  will  perfume  a  large  room. 

There  is  one  variety  of  this  tribe  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Newera  Ellia,  which  is  certainly  unknown  in  Eng- 
lish collections.  It  blossoms  in  April ;  the  flowers  are 
a  bright  lilac,  and  I  could  lay  my  hand  upon  it  at  any 
time,  as  I  have  never  seen  it  but  in  one  spot,  where  it 
flourishes  in  profusion.  This  is  about  fourteen  miles 
from  Newera  Ellia,  and  I  have  never  yet  collected  a 
specimen,  as  I  have  invariably  been  out  hunting  when- 
ever I  have  met  with  it.- 

The  black  pepper  is  also  indigenous  throughout 
Ceylon.  At  Newera  Ellia  the  leaves  of  this  vine  are 
highly  pungent,  although  at  this  elevation  it  does  not 
produce  fruit.  A  very  short  distance  toward  a  lower 
elevation  effects  a  marked  change,  as  within  seven 
miles  it  fruits  in  great  perfection. 

At  a  similar  altitude,  the  wild  nutmeg  is  very  com- 
mon throughout  the  forests.  This  fruit  is  a  perfect 


224        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

anomaly.  The  tree  is  entirely  different  to  that  of  the 
cultivated  species.  The  latter  is  small,  seldom  exceed- 
ing the  size  of  an  apple-tree,  and  bearing  a  light  green 
myrtle-shaped  leaf,  which  is  not  larger  than  that  of  a 
peach.  The  wild  species,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  large 
forest  tree,  with  leaves  equal  in  size  to  those  of  the 
horse  chestnut ;  nevertheless,  it  produces  a  perfect  nut- 
meg. There  is  the  outer  rind  of  fleshy  texture,  like  an 
unripe  peach ;  enclosed  within  is  the  nutlike  shell, 
enveloped  in  the  crimson  network  of  mace,  and  within 
the  shell  is  the  nutmeg  itself.  All  this  is  perfect 
enough,  but,  alas,  the  grand  desideratum  is  wanting — 
it  has  no  flavor  or  aroma  whatever. 

It  is  a  gross  imposition  on  the  part  of  Nature ;  a 
most  stingy  trick  upon  the  public,  and  a  regular  do. 
The  mace  has  no  taste  whatever,  and  the  nutmeg  has 
simply  a  highly  acrid  and  pungent  taste,  without  any 
spicy  flavor,  but  merely  abounding  in  a  rank  and  dis- 
agreeable oil.  The  latter  is  so  plentiful  that  I  am  as- 
tonished it  has  not  been  experimented  upon,  especially 
by  the  natives,  who  are  great  adepts  in  expressing  oils 
from  many  substances. 

Those  most  common  in  Ceylon  are  the  cocoa-nut 
and  gingerly  oils.  The  former  is  one  of  the  grand 
staple  commodities  of  the  island  ;  the  latter  is  the  pro- 
duce of  a  small  grain,  grown  exclusively  by  the  na- 
tives. 

But,  in  addition  to  these,  there  are  various  other  oils 
manufactured  by  the  Cingalese.  These  are  the  cinna- 
mon oil,  castor  oil,  margosse  oil,  mee  oil,  kenar  oil, 
meeheeria  oil ;  and  both  clove  and  lemon-grass  oil  are 
prepared  by  Europeans. 

The  first,  which  is  the  cinnamon  oil,  is  more  pro- 


Native  Oils.  225 

perly  a  kind  of  vegetable  wax,  being  of  the  consistence 
of  stearine.  This  is  prepared  from  the  berries  of  the 
cinnamon  shrub,  which  are  boiled  in  water  until  the 
fatty  substance,  or  so-called  oil,  floats  upon  the  surface  ; 
this  is  then  skimmed  off,  and,  when  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity is  collected,  it  is  boiled  down  until  all  watery  parti- 
cles are  evaporated,  and  the  melted  fat  is  turned  out 
into  a  shallow  vessel  to  cool.  It  has  a  pleasant,  though, 
perhaps,  a  rather  faint  aromatic  smell,  and  is  very 
delicious  as  an  adjunct  in  the  culinary  art.  In  addition 
to  this  it  possesses  gentle  aperient  properties,  which 
render  it  particularly  wholesome. 

Castor  oil  is  also  obtained  by  the  natives  by  boiling, 
and  it  is  accordingly  excessively  rank  after  long  keep- 
ing. The  castor-oil  plant  is  a  perfect  weed  throughout 
Ceylon,  being  one  of  the  few  useful  shrubs  that  will 
flourish  in  such  poor  soil  without  cultivation. 

Margosse  oil  is  extracted  from  the  fruit  of  a  tree  of 
that  name.  It  has  an  extremely  fetid  and  disagreeable 
smell,  which  will  effectually  prevent  the  contact  of  flies 
or  any  other  insect.  On  this  account  it  is  a  valuable 
preventive  to  the  attacks  of  flies  upon  open  wounds,  in 
addition  to  which  it  possesses  powerful  healing  pro- 
perties. 

Mee  oil  is  obtained  from  the  fruit  of  the  mee  tree. 
This  fruit  is  about  the  size  of  an  apricot,  and  is  ex- 
tremely rich  in  its  produce ;  but  the  oil  is  of  a  coarse 
description,  and  is  simply  used  by  the  natives  for  their 
rude  lamps.  Kenar  oil  and  meeheeria  oil  are  equal- 
ly coarse,  and  are  quite  unfit  for  any  but  native  pur- 
poses. 

Lemon-grass  oil,  which  is  known  in  commerce  as 
citronella  oil,  is  a  delightful  extract  from  the  rank 

P 


226        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

lemon  grass,  which  covers  most  of  the  hillsides  in  the 
more  open  districts,  of  Ceylon.  An  infusion  of  the 
grass  is  subsequently  distilled  ;  the  oil  is  then  discovered 
on  the  surface.  This  is  remarkably  pure,  with  a  most 
pungent  aroma.  If  rubbed  upon  the  skin,  it  will  pre- 
vent the  attacks  of  insects  while  its  perfume  remains ; 
but  the  oil  is  so  volatile  that  the  scent  quickly  evapo- 
rates and  the  spell  is  broken. 

Clove  oil  is  extracted  from  the  leaves  of  the  cinna- 
mon tree,  and  not  from  cloves,  as  its  name  would  imply. 
The  process  is  very  similar  to  that  employed  in  the 
manufacture  of  citronella  oil. 

Cinnamon  is  indigenous  throughout  the  jungles  of 
Ceylon.  Even  at  the  high  elevation  of  Newera  Ellia, 
it  is  one  of  the  most  common  woods,  and  it  grows  to 
the  dimensions  of  a  forest  tree,  the  trunk  being  usually 
about  three  feet  in  circumference.  At  Newera  Ellia  it 
loses  much  of  its  fine  flavor,  although  it  is  still  highly 
aromatic. 

This  tree  flourishes  in  a  white  quartz  sandy  soil,  and 
in  its  cultivated  state  is  never  allowed  to  exceed  the 
dimensions  of  a  bush,  being  pruned  down  close  to  the 
ground  every  year.  This  system  of  close  cutting  in- 
duces the  growth  of  a  large  number  of  shoots,  in  the 
same  manner  that  withes  are  produced  in  England. 

Every  twelve  months  these  shoots  attain  the  length 
of  six  or  seven  feet,  and  the  thickness  of  a  man's  ringer. 
In  the  interim,  the  only  cultivation  required  is  repeated 
cleaning.  The  whole  plantation  is  cut  down  at  the 
proper  period,  and  the  sticks  are  then  stripped  of  their 
bark  by  the  peelers.  These  men  are  called  "  chalias,'* 
and  their  labor  is  confined  to  this  particular  branch. 
The  season  being  over,  they  pass  the  remaining  portion 


The  Cinnamon  Tree.  227 

of  the  year  in  idleness,  their  earnings  during  one  crop 
being  sufficient  to  supply  their  trifling  wants  until  the 
ensuing  harvest. 

Their  practice  in  this  employment  naturally  renders 
them  particularly  expert,  and  in  far  less  time  than  is 
occupied  in  the  description  they  run  a  sharp  knife 
longitudinally  along  a  stick,  and  at  once  divest  it  of  the 
bark.  On  the  following  day  the  strips  of  bark  are 
scraped  so  as  entirely  to  remove  the  outer  cuticle.  One 
strip  is  then  laid  within  the  other,  which,  upon  becom- 
ing dry,  contract,  and  form  a  series  of  enclosed  pipes. 
It  is  subsequently  packed  in  bales,  and  carefully  sewed 
up  in  double  sacks  for  exportation. 

The  essential  oil  of  cinnamon  is  usually  made  from 
the  refuse  of  the  crop ;  but  the  quantity  produced,  in 
proportion  to  the  weight  of  cinnamon,  is  exceedingly 
small,  being  about  five  ounces  of  oil  to  half  a  hundred- 
weight of  the  spice. 

Although  the  cinnamon  appears  to  require  no  more 
than  a  common  quartz  sand  for  its  production,  it  is 
always  cultivated  with  the  greatest  success  where  the 
subsoil  is  light,  dry  and  of  a  loamy  quality. 

The  appearance  of  the  surface  soil  is  frequently  very 
deceitful.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  see  a  forest  of  mag- 
nificent trees  growing  in  soil  of  apparently  pure  sand, 
which  will  not  even  produce  the  underwood  with  which 
Ceylon  forests  are  generally  choked.  In  such  an  in- 
stance the  appearance  of  the  trees  is  unusually  grand, 
as  their  whole  length  and  dimensions  are  exposed  to 
view,  and  their  uniting  crowns  throw  a  sombre  shade 
over  the  barren  ground  beneath.  It  is  not  to  be  sup- 
posed that  these  mighty  specimens  of  vegetation  are 
supported  by  the  poor  sandy  soil  upon  the  surface  ;  their 


228        Eight  Year?   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

tap-roots   strike  down  into  some  richer  stratum,  from 
which  their  nourishment  is  derived. 

These  forests  are  not  common  in  Ceylon  ;  their  rarity 
accordingly  enhances  their  beauty.  The  largest  Eng- 
lish oak  would  be  a  mere  pigmy  among  the  giants  of 
these  wilds,  whose  stature  is  so  wonderful  that  the  eye 
never  becomes  tired  of  admiration.  Often  have  I  halted 
on  my  journey  to  ride  around  and  admire  the  prodigious 
height  and  girth  of  these  trees.  Their  beautiful  pro- 
portions render  them  the  more  striking ;  there  are  no 
gnarled  and  knotty  stems,  such  as  we  are  accustomed 
to  admire  in  the  ancient  oaks  and  beeches  of  England, 
but  every  trunk  rises  like  a  mast  from  the  earth,  per- 
fectly free  from  branches  for  ninety  or  a  hundred  feet, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  each  tree  forming  a  dark  pillar  to 
support  its  share  of  the  rich  canopy  above,  which  con- 
stitutes a  roof  perfectly  impervious  to  the  sun.  It  is 
difficult  to  guess  the  actual  height  of  these  forest  trees ; 
but  I  have  frequently  noticed  that  it  is  impossible  to 
shoot  a  bird  on  the  higher  branches  with  No.  5  shot. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  want  of  the  means 
of  transport  renders  the  timber  of  these  forests  perfectly 
valueless.  From  age  to  age  these  magnificent  trees  re- 
main in  their  undisturbed  solitudes,  gradually  increasing 
in  their  apparently  endless  growth,  and  towering  above 
the  dark  vistas  of  everlasting  silence.  No  on  can  im- 
agine the  utter  stillness  which  pervades  these  gloomy 
shades.  There  is  a  mysterious  effect  produced  by  the 
total  absence  of  animal  life.  In  the  depths  of  these 
forests  I  have  stood  and  listened  for  some  sound  until 
my  ears  tingled  with  overstrained  attention  ;  not  a  chirp 
of  a  bird,  not  the  hum  of  an  insect,  but  the  mouth  of 
Nature  is  sealed.  Not  a  breath  of  air  has  rustled  a  leaf, 


Primeval  Forests.  229 

not  even  a  falling  fruit  has  broken  the  spell  of  silence  ; 
the  undying  verdure,  the  freshness  of  each  tree,  even  in 
its  mysterious  age,  create  an  idea  of  eternal  vegetation, 
and  the  silvery  yet  dim  light  adds  to  the  charm  of 
the  fairylike  solitude  which  gradually  steals  over  the 
senses. 

I  have  ridden  for  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  through  one 
of  these  forests  without  hearing  a  sound,  except  that  of 
my  horse's  hoof  occasionally  striking  against  a  root. 
Neither  beast  nor  bird  is  to  be  seen  except  upon  the 
verge.  The  former  has  no  food  upon  such  barren 
ground  ;  and  the  latter  can  find  no  berries,  as  the  earth 
is  sunless  and  free  from  vegetation.  Not  even  monkeys 
are  to  be  seen,  although  the  trees  must  produce  fruit 
and  seed.  Everything  appears  to  have  deserted  the 
country,  and  to  have  yielded  it  as  the  sole  territory  of 
Nature  on  a  stupendous  scale.  The  creepers  lie  ser- 
pent-like along  the  ground  to  the  thickness  of  a  man's 
waist,  and,  rearing  their  twisted  forms  on  high,  they 
climb  the  loftiest  trees,  hanging  in  festoons  from  stem 
to  stem  like  the  cables  of  a  line-of-battle-ship,  and  ex- 
tending from  tree  to  tree  for  many  hundred  yards ;  now 
falling  to  the  earth  and  striking  a  fresh  root ;  then,  with 
increased  energy,  remounting  the  largest  trunks,  and 
forming  a  labyrinth  of  twisted  ropes  along  the  ceiling 
of  the  forest.  From  these  creepers  hang  the  sabre- 
beans.  Everything  seems  on  a  supernatural  scale — the 
bean-pod  four  feet  or  more  in  length,  by  three  inches 
in  breadth  ;  the  beans  two  inches  in  diameter. 

Here  may  be  seen  the  most  valuable  woods  of  Cey- 
lon. The  ebony  grows  in  great  perfection  and  large 
quantity.  This  tree  is  at  once  distinguished  from  the 
surrounding  stems  by  its  smaller  diameter  and  its  sooty 
20 


230       Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon, 

trunk.  The  bark  is  crisp,  jet  black,  and  has  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  charred.  Beneath  the  bark  the  wood 
is  perfectly  white  until  the  heart  is  reached,  which  is 
the  fine  black  ebony  of  commerce.  Here  also,  equally 
immovable,  the  calamander  is  growing,  neglected  and 
unknown.  This  is  the  most  esteemed  of  all  Ceylon 
woods,  and  it  is  so  rare  that  it  realizes  a  fancy  price. 
It  is  something  similar  to  the  finest  walnut,  the  color 
being  a  rich  hazel  brown,  mottled  and  striped  with 
irregular  black  marks.  It  is  superior  to  walnut  in  the 
extreme  closeness  of  the  grain  and  the  richness  of  its 
color. 

There  are  upward  of  eighty  different  woods  pro- 
duced in  Ceylon,  which  are  made  use  of  for  various 
purposes  ;  but  of  these  many  are  very  inferior.  Those 
most  appreciated  are — 

Calamander,  j  chiefl    used  for  furniture  and  cabi_ 

Ebony,  >          /       , 

•* '  (      net  work. 

Satin-wood,   ' 

Suria  (the  tulip  tree). 

Tamarind. 

Jackwood. 

Halmileel. 

Cocoa-nut. 

Palmyra. 

The  suria  is  an  elegant  tree,  bearing  a  beautiful  yel- 
low blossom  something  similar  to  a  tulip,  from  which 
it  derives  its  name.  The  wood  is  of  an  extremely  close 
texture  and  of  a  reddish-brown  color.  It  is  exceed- 
ingly tough,  and  it  is  chiefly  used  for  making  the 
spokes  of  wheels. 

The  tamarind  is  a  fine,  dark  red  wood,  mottled  with 


Wild  fruits.  231 

black  marks ;  but  it  is  not  in  general  use,  as  the  tree  is 
too  valuable  to  be  felled  for  the  sake  of  its  timber. 
This  is  one  of  the  handsomest  trees  of  the  tropics, 
growing  to  a  very  large  size,  the  branches  widely 
spreading,  something  like  the  cedars  of  Lebanon. 

Jackwood  is  a  coarse  imitation  of  mahogany,  and 
is  used  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  especially  for  making 
cheap  furniture.  The  latter  is  not  only  economical,' 
but  exceedingly  durable,  and  is  manufactured  at  so 
low  a  rate  that  a  moderate-sized  house  might  be  en- 
tirely furnished  with  it  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 

The  fruit  of  the  jack  grows  from  the  trunk,  and 
branches  of  the  tree,  and  when  ripe  it  weighs  about 
twenty  pounds.  The  rind  is  rough,  and  when  cut  it 
exposes  a  yellow,  pulpy  mass.  This  is  formed  of  an 
infinite  number  of  separate  divisions  of  fleshy  matter, 
which  severally  enclose  an  oval  nut.  The  latter  are 
very  good  when  roasted,  having  a  close  resemblance  to 
a  chestnut.  The  pulp,  which  is  the  real  fruit,  is  not 
usually  eaten  by  Europeans  on  account  of  its  peculiar 
odor.  This  perfume  is  rather  difficult  to  describe,  but 
when  a  rainy  day  in  London  crams  an  omnibus  with 
well-soaked  and  steaming  multitudes,  the  atmosphere 
in  the  vehicle  somewhat  approaches  to  the  smell  of  the 
jack-fruit. 

The  halmileel  is  one  of  the  most  durable  and  useful 
woods  in  Ceylon,  and  is  almost  the  only  kind  that  is 
thoroughly  adapted  for  making  staves  for  casks.  Of 
late  years  the  great  increase  of  the  oil-trade  has  brought 
this  wood  into  general  request,  consequent  upon  the 
increased  demand  for  casks.  So  extensive  and  general 
is  the  present  demand  for  this  wood  that  the  natives 
are  continually  occupied  in  conveying  it  from  certain 


232        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

districts  which  a  few  years  ago  were  utterly  neglected. 
Unfortunately,  the  want  of  roads  and  the  means  of 
transport  confine  their  operations  to  the  banks  of 
rivers,  down  which  the  logs  are  floated  at  the  proper 
season. 

I  recollect  some  eight  years  ago  crossing  the  Maha- 
welli  river  upon  a  raft  which  my  coolies  had  hastily 
constructed,  and  reaching  a  miserable  village  near  Mo- 
nampitya,  in  the  extreme  north  of  the  Veddah  country. 
The  river  is  here  about  four  hundred  paces  wide,  and 
in  the  rainy  season  a  fine  volume  of  water  rolls  along 
in  a  rapid  stream  toward  Trincomalee,  at  which  place 
it  meets  the  sea.  I  was  struck  at  the  time  with  the 
magnificent  timber  in  the  forests  on  its  banks,  and  no 
less  surprised  that  with  the  natural  facilities  of  trans- 
port it  should  be  neglected.  Two  years  ago  I  crossed 
at  this  same  spot,  and  I  remarked  the  wonderful  change 
which  a  steady  demand  had  effected  in  this  wild  coun- 
try. Extensive  piles  of  halmileel  logs  were  collected 
along  the  banks  of  the  river,  while  the  forests  were 
strewed  with  felled  trees  in  preparation  for  floating 
down  the  stream.  A  regular  demand  usually  ensures  a 
regular  supply,  which  could  not  be  better  exemplified 
than  in  this  case. 

Among  fancy  woods  the  bread-fruit  tree  should  not 
be  omitted.  This  is  something  similar  to  the  jack,  but, 
like  the  tamarind,  the  value  of  the  produce  saves  the 
tree  from  destruction. 

This  tree  does  not  attain  a  very  large  size,  but  its 
growth  is  exceedingly  regular  and  the  foliage  peculiarly 
rich  and  plentiful.  The  fruit  is  something  similar  in 
appearance  to  a  small,  unripe  jack-fruit,  with  an  equally 
rough  exterior.  In  the  opinion  of  most  who  have 


Variety  of  Palms.  233 

tasted  it,  its  virtues  have  been  grossly  exaggerated.  To 
my  taste  it  is  perfectly  uneatable,  unless  fried  in  thin  slices 
with  butter ;  it  is  even  then  a  bad  imitation  of  fried  po- 
tatoes. The  bark  of  this  tree  produces  a  strong  fibre, 
and  a  kind  of  very  adhesive  pitch  is  also  produced  by 
decoction. 

The  cocoa-nut  and  palmyra  woods  at  once  introduce 
us  to  the  palms  of  Ceylon,  the  most  useful  and  the  most 
elegant  class  in  vegetation.  For  upward  of  a  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  along  the  western  and  southern  coasts 
of  Ceylon,  one  continuous  line  of  cocoa-nut  groves 
wave  their  green  leaves  to  the  sea-breeze,  without  a 
single  break,  except  where  some  broad  clear  river 
cleaves  the  line  of  verdure  as  it  meets  the  sea. 

Ceylon  is  rich  in  palms,  including  the  following 
varieties : 

The  Cocoa-nut. 

The  Palmyra. 

The  Kittool. 

The  Areca 

The  Date. 

The  Sago. 

The  Talipot. 

The  wonderful  productions  of  this  tribe  can  only  be 
appreciated  by  those  who  thoroughly  understand  the 
habits  and  necessities  of  the  natives  ;  and,  upon  exami- 
nation, it  will  be  seen  that  Nature  has  opened  wide  her 
bountiful  hand,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  barren  soil  she 
has  still  remembered  and  supplied  the  wants  of  the 
inhabitants. 

As  the  stream  issued  from  the  rock  in  the  wilderness, 
so  the  cocoa-nut  tree  yields  a  pure  draught  from  a  dry 
20* 


234         Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

and  barren  land  ;  a  cup  of  water  to  the  temperate  and 
thirsty  traveler ;  a  cup  of  cream  from  the  pressed 
kernel ;  a  cup  of  refreshing  and  sparkling  toddy  to  the 
early  riser ;  a  cup  of  arrack  to  the  hardened  spirit- 
drinker,  and  a  cup  of  oil,  by  the  light  of  which  I  now 
extol  its  merits — five  separate  and  distinct  liquids  from 
the  same  tree ! 

A  green  or  unripe  cocoa-nut  contains  about  a  pint  of 
a  sweetish  water.  In  the  hottest  weather  this  is  deli- 
ciously  cool,  in  comparison  to  the  heat  of  the  atmos- 
phere. 

The  ripe  nut,  when  scraped  into  a  pulp  by  a  little 
serrated,  semi-circular  iron  instrument,  is  squeezed  in  a 
cloth  by  the  hand,  and  about  a  quarter  of  a  pint  of  de- 
licious thick  cream,  highly  flavored  by  cocoa-nut,  is 
then  expressed.  This  forms  the  chief  ingredient  in  a 
Cingalese  curry,  from  which  it  entirely  derives  its  rich- 
ness and  fine  flavor. 

The  toddy  is  the  sap  which  would  nourish  and  fruc- 
tify the  blossom  and  young  nuts,  were  it  allowed  to 
accomplish  its  duties.  The  toddy-drawer  binds  into  one 
rod  the  numerous  shoots,  which  are  garnished  with 
embryo  nuts,  and  he  then  cuts  off  the  ends,  leaving  an 
abrupt  and  brush-like  termination.  Beneath  this  he 
secures  an  earthen  chatty,  which  will  hold  about  a  gal- 
lon. This  remains  undisturbed  for  twenty-four  hours, 
from  sunrise  to  sunrise  on  the  following  morning ;  the 
toddy-drawer  then  reascends  the  tree,  and  lowers  the 
chatty  by  a  line  to  an  assistant  below,  who  empties  the 
contents  into  a  larger  vessel,  and  the  chatty  is  replaced 
under  the  productive  branch,  which  continues  to  yield 
for  about  a  month. 

When  first  drawn  the  toddy  has  the  appearance  of 


Cocoa-nut  Toddy.  235 

thin  milk  and  water,  with  a  combined  flavor  of  milk 
and  soda-water,  with  a  tinge  of  cocoa-nut.  It  is  then 
very  pleasant  and  refreshing,  but  in  a  few  hours  after 
sunrise  a  great  change  takes  place,  and  the  rapidity  of 
the  transition  from  the  vinous  to  the  acetous  fermenta- 
tion is  so  great  that  by  midday  it  resembles  a  poor  and 
rather  acid  cider.  It  now  possesses  intoxicating  prop- 
erties, and  the  natives  accordingly  indulge  in  it  to  some 
extent ;  but  from  its  flavor  and  decided  acidity  I  should 
have  thought  the  stomach  would  be  affected  some  time 
before  the  head. 

From  this  fermented  toddy  the  arrack  is  procured  by 
simple  distillation. 

This  spirit,  to  my  taste,  is  more  palatable  than  most 
distilled  liquors,  having  a  very  decided  and  peculiar 
flavor.  It  is  a  little  fiery  when  new,  but  as  water  soon 
quenches  fire,  it  is  not  spared  by  the  native  retailers, 
whose  arrack  would  be  of  a  most  innocent  character 
were  it  not  for  their  infamous  addition  of  stupefying 
drugs  and  hot  peppers. 

The  toddy  contains  a  large  proportion  of  saccharine, 
without  which  the  vinous  fermentation  could  not  take 
place.  This  is  procured  by  evaporation  in  boiling,  on 
the  same  principle  that  sugar  is  produced  from  cane- 
juice.  The  syrup  is  then  poured  into  small  saucers  to 
cool,  and  it  shortly  assumes  the  consistence  of  hardened 
sugar.  This  is  known  in  Ceylon  as  "jaggery,"  and  is 
manufactured  exclusively  by  the  natives. 

Cocoa-nut  oil  is  now  one  of  the  greatest  exports  of 
Ceylon,  and  within  the  last  few  years  the  trade  has 
increased  to  an  unprecedented  extent.  In  the  two 
years  of  1849  and  1850,  the  exports  of  cocoa-nut  oil  did 
not  exceed  four  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand  six 


236        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

hundred  gallons,  while  in  the  year  1853  they  had  in- 
creased to  one  million  thirtv-tnree  thousand  nine  hun- 
dred gallons ;  the  trade  being  more  than  quadrupled  in 
three  years. 

The  manufacture  of  the  oil  is  most  simple.  The 
kernel  is  taken  from  the  nut,  and  being  divided,  it  is 
exposed  to  the  sun  until  all  the  watery  particles  are 
evaporated.  The  kernel  thus  dried  is  known  as  "  cop- 
perah."  This  is  then  pressed  in  a  mill,  and  the  oil 
flows  into  a  reservoir. 

This  oil,  although  clear  and  limpid  in  the  tropics, 
hardens  to  the  consistence  of  lard  at  any  temperature 
below  72°  Fahr.  Thus  it  requires  a  second  preparation 
on  its  arrival  in  England.  There  it  is  spread  upon 
mats  (formed  of  coir)  to  the  thickness  of  an  inch,  and 
then  covered  by  a  similar  protection.  These  fat  sand- 
wiches are  two  feet  square,  and  being  piled  one  upon 
the  other  to  a  height  of  about  six  feet  in  an  hydraulic 
press,  are  subjected  to  a  pressure  of  some  hundred  tons. 
This  disengages  the  pure  oleaginous  parts  from  the 
more  insoluble  portions,  and  the  fat  residue,  being 
increased  in  hardness  by  its  extra  density,  is  mixed  with 
stearine,  and  by  a  variety  of  preparations  is  converted 
into  candles.  The  pure  oil  thus  expressed  is  that  known 
in  the  shops  as  cocoa-nut  oil. 

The  cultivation  of  the  cocoa-nut  tree  is  now  carried 
to  a  great  extent,  both  by  natives  and  Europeans  ;  by 
the  former  it  is  grown  for  a  variety  of  purposes,  but  by 
the  latter  its  profits  are  confined  to  oil,  coir  and  poonac. 
The  latter  is  the  refuse  of  the  nut  after  the  oil  has  been 
expressed,  and  corresponds  in  its  uses  to  the  linseed-oil 
cake  of  England,  being  chiefly  employed  for  fattening 
cattle,  pigs  and  poultry. 


Cocoa-nut  Planting.  237 

The  preparation  of  coir  is  a  dirty  and  offensive  occu- 
pation. The  husk  of  the  cocoa-nut  is  thrown  into 
tanks  of  water,  until  the  woody  or  pithy  matter  is 
loosened  by  fermentation  from  the  coir  fibre.  The 
stench  of  putrid  vegetable  matter  arising  from  these 
heaps  must  be  highly  deleterious.  Subsequently  the 
husks  are  beaten  and  the  fibre  is  separated  and  dried. 
Coir  rope  is  useful  on  account  of  its  durability  and 
power  of  resisting  decay  during  long  immersion.  In 
the  year  1853,  twenty-three  hundred  and  eighty  tons  of 
coir  were  exported  from  Ceylon. 

The  great  drawback  to  the  commencement  of  a 
cocoa-nut  plantation  is  the  total  .uncertainty  of  the 
probable  alteration  in  the  price  of  oil  during  the  interval 
of  eleven  years  which  must  elapse  before  the  estate 
comes  into  bearing.  In  this  era  of  invention,  when 
improvements  in  every  branch  of  science  follow  each 
other  with  such  rapid  strides,  it  is  always  a  dangerous 
speculation  to  make  any  outlay  that  will  remain  so  long 
invested  without  producing  a  return.  Who  can  be  so 
presumptuous  as  to  predict  the  changes  of  future  years? 
Oil  may  have  ceased  to  be  the  common  medium  of 
light — our  rooms  may  be  illumined  by  electricity,  or 
from  fifty  other  sources  which  now  are  never  dreamed 
of.  In  the  mean  time,  the  annual  outlay  during  eleven 
years  is  an  additional  incubus  upon  the  prime  cost  of 
the  plantation,  which,  at  the  expiration  of  this  term, 
may  be  reduced  to  one-tenth  of  its  present  value. 

The  cocoa-nut  tree  requires  a  sandy  and  well-drained 
soil ;  and  although  it  flourishes  where  no  other  tree  will 
grow,  it  welcomes  a  soil  of  a  richer  quality  and  pro- 
duces fruit  in  proportion.  Eighty  nuts  per  annum  are 
?bout  the  average  income  from  a  healthy  tree  in  full 


238        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

bearing,  but  this,  of  course,  depends  much  upon  the 
locality.  This  palm  delights  in  the  sea-breeze,  and 
never  attains  the  same  perfection  inland  that  it  does  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  coast.  There  are  several  varieties, 
and  that  which  is  considered  superior  is  the  yellow 
species,  called  the  "  king  cocoa-nut."  I  have  seen  this 
on  the  Maldive  Islands  in  great  perfection.  There  it  is 
the  prevailing  description. 

At  the  Seychelles,  there  is  a  variety  peculiar  to  those 
islands,  differing  entirely  in  appearance  from  the  com- 
mon cocoa-nut.  It  is  fully  twice  the  size,  and  is  shaped 
like  a  kidney  that  is  laid  open.  This  is  called  by  the 
French  the  "coco  de  mer"  from  the  large  numbers 
that  are  found  floating  in  the  sea  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  islands. 

The  wood  of  the  cocoa-nut  tree  is  strong  and  dura- 
ble ;  it  is  a  dark  brown,  traversed  by  longitudinal  black 
lines. 

There  are  three  varieties  of  toddy-producing  palms 
in  Ceylon  ;  these  are  the  cocoa-nut,  the  kittool  and  the 
palmyra.  The  latter  produces  the  finest  quality  of  jag- 
gery. This  cannot  be  easily  distinguished  from  crum- 
bled sugar-candy,  which  it  exactly  resembles  in  flavdr. 
The  wood  of  the  palmyra  is  something  similar  to  the 
cocoa-nut,  but  it  is  of  a  superior  quality,  and  is  much 
used  for  rafters,  being  durable  and  of  immense 
strength. 

The  kittool  is  a  very  sombre  and  peculiar  palm.  Its 
crest  very  much  resembles  the  drooping  plume  upon  a 
hearse,  and  the  foliage  is  a  dark  green  with  a  tinge  of 
gray.  The  wood  of  this  palm  is  almost  black,  being 
apparently  a  mass  of  longitudinal  strips,  or  coarse  lines 
of  whalebone  running  close  together  from  the  top  to 


The  Talipot  Palm.  239 

Ihrt  root  of  the  tree.  This  is  the  toughest  and  most 
pliable  of  all  the  palm-woods,  and  is  principally  used 
by  the  natives  in  making  "  pingos."  These  are  flat 
bows  s.boi't  eight  feet  in  length,  and  are  used  by  the 
Cingalese  fcr  carrying  loads  upon  the  shoulder.  The 
weight  is  slung  at  either  end  of  the  pingo,  and  the 
elasticity  of  the  wood  accommodates  itself  to  the  spring 
of  each  step,  thereby  reducing  the  dead  weight  of  the 
load.  In  this  manner  a  stout  Cingalese  will  carry  and 
travel  with  eighty  pounds  if  working  on  his  own  ac- 
count, or  with  fifty  if  hired  for  a  journey.  A  Cinga- 
lese will  carry  a  much  heavier  weight  than  an  ordinary 
Malabar,  as  he  is  a  totally  different  man  in  form  and 
strength.  In  fact,  the  Cingalese  are  generally  a  com- 
pactly built  and  well-limbed  race,  while  the  Malabar  is 
a  man  averaging  full  a  stone  lighter  weight. 

The  most  extraordinary  in  the  list  of  palms  is  the 
talipot.  The  crest  of  this  beautiful  tree  is  adorned  by 
a  crown  of  nearly  circular,  fan-shaped  leaves  of  so 
tough  and  durable  a  texture  that  they  are  sewn  together 
by  the  natives  for  erecting  portable  tents  or  huts.  The 
circumference  of  each  leaf  at  the  extreme  edge  is  from 
twenty  to  thirty  feet,  and  even  this  latter  size  is  said  to 
be  frequently  exceeded. 

Every  Cingalese  throughout  the  Kandian  district  is 
provided  with  a  section  of  one  of  these  leaves,  which 
forms  a  kind  of  fan  about  six  feet  in  length.  This  is 
carried  in  the  hand,  and  is  only  spread  in  case  of  rain, 
when  it  forms  an  impervious  roofing  of  about  three 
feet  in  width  at  the  broad  extremity.  Four  or  five 
of  these  sections  will  form  a  circular  roof  for  a  small 
hut,  which  resembles  a  large  umbrella  or  brobdignag 
mushroom. 


240        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

There  is  a  great  peculiarity  in  the  talipot  palm.  It 
blossoms  only  once  in  a  long  period  of  years,  and  after 
this  it  dies.  No  flower  can  equal  the  elegance  and  ex- 
traordinary dimensions  of  this  blossom  ;  its  size  is  pro- 
portionate to  its  leaves,  and  it  usurps  the  place  of  the 
faded  crest  of  green,. forming  a  magnificent  crown  or 
plume  of  snow-white  ostrich  feathers,  which  stand 
upon  the  summit  of  the  tall  stem  as  though  they  were 
the  natural  head  of  the  palm. 

There  is  an  interesting  phenomenon  at  the  period  of 
flowering.  The  great  plume  already  described,  prior 
to  its  appearing  in  bloom,  is  packed  in  a  large  case  or 
bud,  about  four  feet  long.  In  this  case  the  blossom 
comes  to  maturity,  at  which  time  the  tightened  cuticle 
of  the  bud  can  no  longer  sustain  the  pressure  of  the 
expanding  flower.  It  suddenly  bursts  with  a  loud  re- 
port, and  the  beautiful  plume,  freed  from  its  imprison- 
ment, ascends  at  this  signal  and  rapidly  unfolds  its 
feathers,  towering  above  the  drooping  leaves  which  are 
hastening  to  decay. 

The  areca  is  a  palm  of  great  elegance  ;  it  rises  to  a 
height  of  about  eighty  feet,  and  a  rich  feathery  crest 
adorns  the  summit.  This  is  the  most  delicate  stem  of 
all  the  palm  tribe ;  that  of  a  tree  of  eighty  feet  in 
length  would  not  exceed  five  inches  in  diameter. 
Nevertheless,  I  have  never  seen  an  areca  palm  over- 
turned by  a  storm  ;  they  bow  gracefully  to  the  wind, 
and  the  extreme  elasticity  of  the  wood  secures  them 
from  destruction. 

This  tree  produces  the  commonly-called  "betel-nut," 
but  more  properly  the  areca-nut.  They  grow  in  clus- 
ters beneath  the  crest  of  the  palm,  in  a  similar  manner 
to  the  cocoa-nut;  but  the  tree  is  more  prolific,  as  it 


Betel-  Chewing*  24 1 

produces  about  two  hundred  nuts  per  annum.  The 
latter  are  very  similar  to  large  nutmegs  both  in  size  and 
appearance,  and,  like  the  cocoa-nut,  they  are  enclosed 
in  an  outer  husk  of  a  fibrous  texture. 

The  consumption  of  these  nuts  may  be  imagined 
when  it  is  explained  that  every  native  is  perpetually 
chewing  a  mixture  of  this  nut  and  betel  leaf.  Every 
man  carries  a  betel  bag,  which  contains  the  following 
list  of  treasures  :  a  quantity  of  areca-nuts,  a  parcel  of 
betel  leaves,  a  roll  of  tobacco,  a  few  pieces  of  ginger, 
an  instrument  similar  to  pruning  scissors  and  a  brass 
or  silver  case  (according  to  the  wealth  of  the  indi- 
vidual) full  of  chunam  paste — viz.,  a  fine  lime  pro- 
duced from  burnt  coral,  slacked.  This  case  very  much 
resembles  an  old-fashioned  warming-pan  breed  of  watch 
and  chateleine,  as  numerous  little  spoons  for  scooping 
out  the  chunam  are  attached  to  it  by  chains. 

The  betel  is  a  species  of  pepper,  the  leaf  of  which 
very  much  resembles  that  of  the  black  pepper,  but  is 
highly  aromatic  and  pungent.  It  is  cultivated  to  a  very 
large  extent  by  the  natives,  and  may  be  seen  climbing 
round  poles  and  trees  in  every  garden. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  authors  that  the  betel  has 
powerful  narcotic  properties,  but,  on  the  contrary,  its 
stimulating  qualities  have  a  directly  opposite  effect. 
Those  who  have  attributed  this  supposed  property  to 
the  betel  leaf  must  have  indulged  in  a  regular  native 
"chew"  as  an  experiment,  and  have  nevertheless  been 
ignorant  of  the  mixture. 

We  will  make  up  a  native  "chew"  after  the  most 
approved  fashion,  and  the  reader  shall  judge  for  him- 
self in  which  ingredient  the  narcotic  principle  is  dis- 
played. 

21  Q 


243        Eight  Tears1   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Take  a  betel  leaf,  and  upon  this  spread  a  piece  of 
chunam  as  large  as  a  pea ;  then  with  the  priming- 
scissors  cut  three  very  thin  slices  of  areca-nut,  and  lay 
them  in  the  leaf;  next,  add  a  small  piece  of  ginger  ; 
and,  lastly,  a  good-sized  piece  of  tobacco.  Fold  up  this 
mixture  in  another  betel  leaf  in  a  compact  little  parcel, 
and  it  is  fit  for  promoting  several  hours'  enjoyment  in 
chewing,  and  spitting  a  disgusting  blood-red  dye  in 
every  direction.  The  latter  is  produced  by  the  areca- 
nut.  It  is  the  tobacco  which  possesses  the  narcotic 
principle  ;  if  this  is  omitted,  the  remaining  ingredients 
are  simple  stimulants. 

The  teeth  of  all  natives  are  highly  discolored  by  the 
perpetual  indulgence  in  this  disgusting  habit ;  nor  is 
this  the  only  effect  produced ;  cancer  in  the  cheek  is  a 
common  complaint  among  them,  supposed  to  be  pro- 
duced by  the  caustic  lime  which  is  so  continually  in  the 
mouth. 

The  exports  of  areca-nuts  from  Ceylon  will  give  some 
idea  of  the  supply  of  palms.  In  1853  no  less  than  three 
thousand  tons  were  shipped  from  this  colony,  valued  at 
about  45,ooo/.  The  greater  portion  of  these  is  con- 
sumed in  India. 

Two  varieties  of  palms  remain  to  be  described — the 
date  and  the  sago. 

The  former  is  a  miserable  species,  which  does  not 
exceed  the  height  of  three  to  five  feet,  and  the  fruit  is 
perfectly  worthless. 

The  latter  is  indigenous  throughout  the  jungles  in 
Ceylon,  but  it  is  neither  cultivated,  nor  is  the  sago  pre- 
pared from  it. 

The  height  of  this  palm  does  not  exceed  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet,  and  even  this  is  above  the  general  average. 


Sago-nuts.  243 

It  grows  in  the  greatest  profusion  in  the  Veddah  coun- 
try. The  stem  is  rough,  and  a  continuation  of  rings 
divides  it  into  irregular  sections.  The  leaves  are  a  rich 
dark  green,  and  very  light  and  feathery,  beneath  which 
the  nuts  grow  in  clusters  similar  to  those  of  the  areca 
palm. 

The  only  use  that  the  natives  make  of  the  produce  of 
this  tree  is  in  the  preparation  of  flour  from  the  nuts. 
Even  this  is  not  very  general,  which  is  much  to  be 
wondered  at,  as  the  farina  is  far  superior  in  flavor  to 
that  produced  from  most  grains. 

The  natives  ascribe  intoxicating  properties  to  the 
cakes  made  from  this  flour;  but  I  have  certainly  eaten 
a  fair  allowance  at  one  time,  and  I  cannot  say  that  I 
had  the  least  sensation  of  elevation. 

The  nut,  which  is  something  similar  to  the  areca  in 
size,  is  nearly  white  when  divested  of  its  outer  husk, 
and  this  is  soaked  for  about  twenty-four  hours  in  water. 
During  this  time  a  slight  fermentation  takes  place, 
and  the  gas  generated  splits  the  nut  open  at  a  closed 
joint  like  an  acorn.  This  fermentation  may,  perhaps, 
take  some  exhilarating  effect  upon  the  natives'  weak 
heads. 

The  nuts  being  partially  softened  by  this  immersion, 
are  dried  in  the  sun,  and  subsequently  pounded  into 
flour  in  a  wooden  mortar.  This  flour  is  sifted,  and  the 
coarser  parts  being  separated,  are  again  pounded,  until 
a  beautiful  snow-white  farina  is  produced.  This  is 
made  into  a  dough  by  a  proper  admixture  with  water, 
and  being  formed  into  small  cakes,  they  are  baked  for 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  a  chatty.  The  fermenta- 
tion which  has  already  taken  place  in  the  nut  has  im- 
pregnated the  flower  with  a  leaven ;  this,  without  any 


244        Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

further  addition,  expands  the  dough  when  in  the  oven, 
and  the  cake  produced  is  very  similar  to  a  crumpet, 
both  in  appearance  and  flavor. 

The  village  in  which  I  first  tasted  this  preparation  of 
the  sago-nut  was  a  tolerable  sample  of  such  places,  on 
the  borders  of  the  Veddah  country.  The  population 
consisted  of  one  old  man  and  a  corresponding  old 
woman,  and  one  fine  stout  young  man  and  five  young 
women.  A  host  of  little  children,  who  were  so  similar 
in  height  that  they  must  have  been  one  litter,  and  three 
or  four  most  miserable  dogs  and  cats,  were  additional 
tenants  of  the  soi-disant  village. 

These  people  lived  upon  sago  cakes,  pumpkins,  wild 
fruits  and  berries,  river  fish  and  wild  honey.  The 
latter  is  very  plentiful  throughout  Ceylon,  and  the  na- 
tives are  very  expert  in  finding  out  the  nests,  by  watch- 
ing the  bees  in  their  flight  and  following  them  up.  A 
bee-hunter  must  be  a  most  keen-sighted  fellow,  although 
there  is  not  so  much  difficulty  in  the  pursuit  as  may  at 
first  appear.  No  one  can  mistake  the  flight  of  a  bee 
en  route  home,  if  he  has  once  observed  him.  He  is 
no  longer  wandering  from  flower  to  flower  in  an  un- 
certain course,  but  he  rushes  through  the  air  in  a 
straight  line  for  the  nest.  If  the  bee-hunter  sees  one 
bee  thus  speeding  homeward,  he  watches  the  vacant 
spot  in  the  air,  until  assured  of  the  direction  by  the 
successive  appearance  of  these  insects,  one  following 
the  other  nearly  every  second  in  their  hurried  race  to 
the  comb.  Keeping  his  eye  upon  the  passing  bees,  he 
follows  them  until  he  reaches  the  tree  in  which  the 
nest  is  found. 

There  are  five  varieties  of  bees  in  Ceylon  ;  these  are 
all  honey-makers,  except  the  carpenter  bee.  This 


Variety  of  Sees.  245 

species  is  entirely  unlike  a  bee  in  all  its  habits.  It  is  a 
bright  tinsel-green  color,  and  the  size  of  a  large  walnut, 
but  shaped  like  the  humble  bees  of  England.  The 
mouth  is  armed  with  a  very  powerful  pair  of  mandi- 
bles, and  the  tail  with  a  sting  even  larger  and  more 
venomous  than  that  of  the  hornet.  These  carpenter 
bees  are  exceedingly  destructive,  as  they  bore  holes  in 
beams  and  posts,  in  which  they  lay  their  eggs,  the 
larvae  of  which  when  hatched  greedily  feed  upon  the 
timber. 

The  honey  bees  are  of  four  very  distinct  varieties, 
each  of  which  forms  its  nest  on  a  'different  principle. 
The  largest  and  most  extensive  honey-maker  is  the 
"bambera."  This  is  nearly  as  large  as  a  hornet,  and 
it  forms  its  nest  upon  the  bough  of  a  tree,  from  which 
it  hangs  like  a  Cheshire  cheese,  being  about  the  same 
thickness,  but  five  or  six  inches  greater  in  diameter. 
The  honey  of  this  bee  is  not  so  much  esteemed  as  that 
from  the  smaller  varieties,  as  the  flavor  partakes  too 
strongly  of  the  particular  flower  which  the  bee  has 
frequented ;  thus  in  different  seasons  the  honey  varies 
in  flavor,  and  is  sometimes  so  highly  aperient  that  it 
must  be  used  with  much  caution.  This  property  is  of 
course  derived  from  the  flower  which  the  bee  prefers 
at  that  particular  season.  The  wax  of  the  comb  is  the 
purest  and  whitest  of  any  kind  produced  in  Ceylon. 
So  partial  are  these  bees  to  particular  flowers  that  they 
migrate  from  place  to  place  at  different  periods  in  quest 
of  flowers  which  are  then  in  bloom. 

This  is  a  very  wonderful  and  inexplicable  arrange- 
ment of  Nature,  when  it  is  considered  that  some  flowers 
which  particularly  attract  these  migrations  only  blossom 
once  in  "seven  years"  This  is  the  case  at  Newera 
21* 


246         Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Ellia,  where  the  nillho  blossom  induces  such  a  general 
rush  of  this  particular  bee  to  the  district  that  the  jun- 
gles are  swarming  with  them  in  every  direction,  al- 
though during  the  six  preceding  years  hardly  a  bee  of 
the  kind  is  to  be  met  with. 

There  are  many  varieties  of  the  nillho.  These  vary 
from  a  tender  dwarf  plant  to  the  tall  and  heavy  stem 
of  the  common  nillho,  which  is  nearly  as  thick  as  a 
man's  arm  and  about  twenty  feet  high. 

The  next  honey-maker  is  very  similar  in  size  and 
appearance  to  our  common  hive  bee  in  England.  This 
variety  forms  its  nest  in  hollow  trees  and  in  holes  in 
rocks.  Another  bee,  similar  in  appearance,  but  not 
more  than  half  the  size,  suspends  a  most  delicate  comb 
to  the  twigs  of  a  tree.  This  nest  is  no  larger  than  an 
orange,  but  the  honey  of  the  two  latter  varieties  is  of 
the  finest  quality,  and  quite  equal  in  flavor  to  the  famed 
"  miel  vert"  of  the  Isle  de  Burbon,  although  it  has  not 
the  delicate  green  tint  which  is  so  much  esteemed  in 
the  latter. 

The  last  of  the  Ceylon  bees  is  the  most  tiny,  although 
an  equally  industrious  workman.  He  is  a  little  smaller 
than  our  common  house-fly,  and  he  builds  his  diminu- 
tive nest  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree,  where  the  entrance  to 
his  mansion  is  a  hole  no  larger  than  would  be  made  by 
a  lady's  stiletto. 

It  would  be  a  natural  supposition  that  so  delicate  an 
insect  would  produce  a  honey  of  corresponding  purity, 
but  instead  of  the  expected  treasure  we  find  a  thick, 
black  and  rather  pungent  but  highly  aromatic  mo- 
lasses. The  natives,  having  naturally  coarse  tastes  and 
strong  stomachs,  admire  this  honey  beyond  any  other. 
Many  persons  are  surprised  at  the  trifling  exports  of 


Waste  of  Beeswax.  247 

wax  from  Ceylon.  In  1853  these  amounted  to  no  more 
than  one  ton. 

Cingalese  are  curious  people,  and  do  not  trouble 
themselves  about  exports ;  they  waste  or  consume  all 
the  beeswax.  While  we  are  contented  with  the  honey 
and  carefully  reject  the  comb,  the  native  (in  some  dis- 
tricts) crams  his  mouth  with  a  large  section,  and  giving 
it  one  or  two  bites,  he  bolts  the  luscious  morsel  and  be- 
gins another.  In  this  manner  immense  quantities  of 
this  valuable  article  are  annually  wasted.  Some  few 
of  the  natives  in  the  poorest  villages  save  a  small  quan- 
tity, to  exchange  with  the  traveling  Moormen  for  cotton 
cloths,  etc.,  and  in  this  manner  the  trifling  amount  ex- 
ported is  collected. 

During  the  honey  year  at  Newera  Ellia  I  gave  a 
native  permission  to  hunt  bees  in  my  forests,  on  condi- 
tion that  he  should  bring  me  the  wax.  Of  course  he 
stole  the  greater  portion,  but  nevertheless,  in  a  few 
weeks  he  brought  me  seventy-two  pounds'  weight  of 
well-cleaned  and  perfectly  white  wax,  which  he  had 
made  up  into  balls  about  the  size  of  an  eighteen-pound 
shot.  Thus,  in  a  few  weeks,  one  man  had  collected 
about  the  thirtieth  part  of  the  annual  export  from 
Ceylon  ;  or,  allowing  that  he  stole  at  least  one-half, 
this  would  amount  to  the  fifteenth. 

It  would  be  a  vain  attempt  to  restrain  these  people 
from  their  fixed  habit ;  they  would  as  soon  think  of  re- 
fraining from  betel-chewing  as  giving  up  a  favorite 
food.  Neither  will  they  be  easily  persuaded  to  indulge 
in  a  food  of  a  new  description.  I  once  showed  them 
the  common  British  mushroom,  which  they  declared 
was  a  poisonous  kind.  To  prove  the  contrary,  I  had 
them  several  times  at  table,  and  found  them  precisely 


248        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

similar  in  appearance  and  flavor  to  the  well-known 
"  Agaricus  campestris ;"  but,  notwithstanding  this 
actual  proof,  the  natives  would  not  be  convinced,  and, 
althongh  accustomed  to  eat  a  variety  of  this  tribe,  they 
positively  declined  this  experiment.  There  is  an  edible 
species  which  they  prefer,  which,  from  its  appearance, 
an  Englishman  would  shun  :  this  is  perfectly  white, 
both  above  and  below,  and  the  upper  cuticle  cannot  be 
peeled  off.  I  have  tasted  this,  but  it  is  very  inferior  in 
flavor  to  the  common  mushroom. 

Experiments  in  these  varieties  of  fungi  are  highly 
dangerous,  as  many  of  the  most  poisonous  so  closely 
resemble  the  edible  species  that  they  can  with  difficulty 
be  distinguished.  There  is  one  kind  of  fungus  that  I 
have  met  with  in  the  forests  which,  from  its  offensive 
odor  and  disgusting  appearance,  should  be  something 
superlatively  bad.  It  grows  about  four  inches  high  ; 
the  top  is  round,  with  a  fleshy  and  inflamed  appear- 
ance ;  the  stalk  is  out  of  all  proportion  in  its  thickness, 
being  about  two  inches  in  diameter  and  of  a  livid  white 
color ;  this,  when  broken,  is  full  of  a  transparent  gelati- 
nous fluid,  which  smells  like  an  egg  in  the  last  stage  of 
rottenness. 

This  fungus  looks  like  an  unhealthy  excrescence  on 
the  face  of  Nature,  who,  as  though  ashamed  of  the  dis- 
gusting blemish,  has  thrown  a  veil  over  the  defect. 
The  most  exquisite  fabric  that  can  be  imagined — a 
scarlet  veil,  like  a  silken  net — falls  over  this  ugly  fun- 
gus, and,  spreading  like  a  tent  at  its  base,  it  is  there 
attached  to  the  ground. 

The  meshes  of  this  net  are  about  as  fine  as  those  of  a 
very  delicate  silk  purse,  and  the  gaudiness  of  the  color 
and  the  size  of  the  fungus  make  it  a  very  prominent 


Curiozis  Tent-like  Fungus.  249 

/ 

object  among  the  surrounding  vegetation.     In  fact,  it  is 

a  diminutive,  though  perfect  circular  tent  of  net-work, 
the  stem  of  the  fungus  forming  the  pole  in  the  centre. 

I  shall  never  forget  my  first  introduction  to  this  speci- 
men. It  was  growing  in  an  open  forest,  free  from  any 
underwood,  and  it  seemed  like  a  fairy  bivouac  beneath 
the  mighty  trees  which  overshadowed  it.  Hardly  be- 
lieving my  own  eyes  at  so  strange  and  exquisite  a  struc- 
ture, I  jumped  off  my  horse  and  hastened  to  secure  it. 
But  the  net-work  once  raised  was  like  the  uncovering 
of  the  veiled  prophet  of  Khorassan,  and  the  stem, 
crushing  in  my  fingers,  revealed  all  the  disgusting  pro- 
perties of  the  plant,  and  proved  the  impossibility  of  re- 
moving it  entire.  The  elegance  of  its  exterior  only 
served  to  conceal  its  character — like  Madame  Mantilini, 
who,  when  undressed,  "'  tumbled  into  ruins." 

There  are  two  varieties  of  narcotic  fungi  whose  pro- 
perties are  so  mild  that  they  are  edible  in  small  quanti- 
ties. One  is  a  bright  crimson  on  the  surface ;  this  is 
the  most  powerful,  and  is  seldom  used.  The  other 
is  a  white  solid  puff-ball,  with  a  rough  outer  skin  or 
rind. 

I  have  eaten  the  latter  on  two  occasions,  having  been 
assured  by  the  natives  that  they  were  harmless.  The 
flavor  somewhat  resembles  a  truffle,  but  I  could  not 
account  for  the  extreme  drowsiness  that  I  felt  soon  after 
eating  ;  this  wore  off  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  hours. 
On  the  following  day  I  felt  the  same  effect,  but  to  a  still 
greater  degree,  as,  having  convinced  myself  that  they 
were  really  eatable,  I  had  taken  a  larger  quantity. 
Knowing  that  the .  narcotic  principle  is  the  common 
property  of  a  great  variety  of  fungi,  it  immediately 
struck  me  that  the  puff-balls  were  the  cause.  On 


250        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

questioning  the  natives,  it  appeared  that  it  was  this 
principle  that  they  admired,  as  it  produced  a  species  of 
mild  intoxication. 

All  people,  of  whatever  class  or  clime,  indulge  in 
some  narcotic  drug  or  drink.  Those  of  the  Cingalese 
are  arrack,  tobacco,  fungi  and  the  Indian  hemp.  The 
use  of  the  latter  is,  however,  not  so  general  among  the 
Cingalese  as  the  Malabars.  This  drug  has  a  different 
effect  from  opium,  as  it  does  not  injure  the  constitution, 
but  simply  exhilarates,  and  afterward  causes  a  tempo- 
rary lethargy. 

In  appearance  it  very  nearly  resembles  the  common 
hemp,  but  it  differs  in  the  seed.  The  leaves  and  blos- 
soms are  dried,  and  are  either  smoked  like  tobacco,  or 
formed  into  a  paste  with  various  substances  and 
chewed. 

When  the  plant  approaches  maturity,  a  gummy  sub- 
stance exudes  from  the  leaves ;  this  is  gathered  by  men 
clothed  in  dry  raw  hides,  who,  by  walking  through  the 
plantation,  become  covered  with  this  gum  or  glue. 
This  is  scraped  off  and  carefully  preserved,  being  the 
very  essence  of  the  plant,  and  exceedingly  powerful  in 
its  effects. 

The  sensation  produced  by  the  properties  of  this 
shrub  is  a  wild,  dreamy  kind  of  happiness ;  the  ideas 
are  stimulated  to  a  high  degree,  and  all  that  are  most 
pleasurable  are  exaggerated  till  the  senses  at  length 
sink  into  a  vague  and  delightful  elysium. 

The  reaction  after  this  unnatural  excitement  is  very 
distressing,  but  the  sufferer  is  set  all  right  again  by 
some  trifling  stimulant,  such  as  a  glass  of  wine  or 
spirits. 

It   is   supposed,  and  confidently   asserted  by  some, 


Intoxicating  Drugs.  2«Ji 

that  the  Indian  hemp  is  the  foundation  of  the  Egyp- 
tian "  hashisch,"  the  effects  of  which,  are  precisely 
similar. 

However  harmless  the  apparent  effect  of  a  narcotic 
drug,  common  sense  must  at  once  perceive  that  a  re- 
peated intoxication,  no  matter  how  it  is  produced,  must 
be  ultimately  hurtful  to  the  system.  The  brain,  accus- 
tomed to  constant  stimulants,  at  length  loses  its  natural 
power,  and  requires  these  artificial  assistants  to  enable 
it  to  perform  its  ordinary  functions,  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  the  stomach,  from  similar  treatment,  would 
at  length  cease  to  act.  This  being  continued,  the  brain 
becomes  semi-torpid,  until  wakened  up  by  a  powerful 
stimulant,  and  the  nervous  system  is  at  length  worn  out 
by  a  succession  of  exciting  causes  and  reactions.  Thus, 
a  hard  drinker  appears  dull  and  heavy  until  under  the 
influence  of  his  secret  destroyer,  when  he  brightens  up 
and,  perhaps,  shines  in  conversation  ;  but  every  reaction 
requires  a  stronger  amount  of  stimulant  to  lessen  its 
effect,  until  mind  and  body  at  length  become  involved 
in  the  common  ruin. 

The  seed  of  the  lotus  is  a  narcotic  of  a  mild  descrip- 
tion, and  it  is  carefully  gathered  when  ripe  and  eaten 
by  the  natives. 

The  lotus  is  seen  in  two  varieties  in  Ceylon — the  pink 
and  the  white.  The  former  is  the  most  beautiful,  and 
they  are  both  very  common  in  all  tanks  and  sluggish 
streams.  The  leaves  are  larger  than  those  of  the  water- 
lily,  to  which  they  bear  a  great  resemblance,  and  the 
blossoms  are  full  double  the  size.  When  the  latter 
fade,  the  petals  fall,  and  the  base  of  the  flower  and 
seed-pod  remains  in  the  shape  of  a  circular  piece  of 
honeycomb,  full  of  cells  sufficiently  large  to  contain  a 


252        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

hazel-nut.  This  is  about  the  size  of  the  seed,  but  the 
shape  is  more  like  an  acorn  without  its  cup.  The 
flavor  is  pleasant,  being  something  like  a  filbert,  but 
richer  and  more  oily. 

Stramoniun  (Datura  stramonium),  which  is  a  pow- 
erful narcotic,  is  a  perfect  weed  throughout  the  island, 
but  it  is  not  used  by  the  natives  otherwise  than  medi- 
cinally, and  the  mass  of  the  people  are  ignorant  of  its 
qualities,  which  are  only  known  to  the  Cingalese  doc- 
tors. I  recollect  some  years  ago,  in  Mauritius,  where 
this  plant  is  equally  common,  its  proprieties  were  not 
only  fully  understood,  but  made  use  of  by  some  of  the 
Chinese  emigrants.  These  fellows  made  cakes  of 
manioc  and  poisoned  them  with  stramonium.  Hot 
manioc  cakes  are  the  common  every-day  accompani- 
ment to  a  French  planter's  breakfast  at  Mauritius,  and 
through  the  medium  of  these  the  Chinese  robbed  several 
houses.  Their  plan  was  simple  enough. 

A  man  with  cakes  to  sell  appeared  at  the  house  at  an 
early  hour,  and  these  being  purchased,  he  retired  until 
about  two  hours  after  breakfast  was  concluded.  By 
this  time  the  whole  family  were  insensible,  and  the 
thieves  robbed  the  house  at  their  leisure.  None  of 
these  cases  terminated  fatally ;  but,  from  the  instant 
that  I  heard  of  it,  I  made  every  cake-seller  who  ap- 
peared at  the  door  devour  one  of  his  own  cakes  before 
I  became  a  purchaser.  These  men,  however,  were 
bona  Jide  cake-merchants,  and  I  did  not  meet  with  an 
exception. 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  valuable  medicinal  plants 
in  the  jungles  of  Ceylon,  many  of  which  are  unknown 
to  any  but  the  native  doctors.  Those  most  commonly 
known  to  us,  and  which  may  be  seen  growing  wild  by 


The  Cassia  Fistula.  253 

the  roadside,  are  the  nux  vomtca,  ipecacuanha,  gam- 
boge, sarsaparilla,  cassia  fistula,  cardamoms,  etc. 

The  ipecacuanha  is  a  pretty,  delicate  plant,  which 
bears  a  bright  orange-colored  cluster  of  flowers. 

The  cassia  fistula  is  a  very  beautiful  tree,  growing  to 
the  size  of  an  ash,  which  it  somewhat  resembles  in 
foliage.  The  blossom  is  very  beautiful,  being  a  pendant 
of  golden  flowers  similar  to  the  laburnum,  but  each 
blossom  is  about  two  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  the  indi- 
vidual flowers  on  the  bunch  are  large  in  proportion. 
When  the  tree  is  in  full  flower  it  is  very  superb,  and 
equally  as  singular  when  its  beauty  has  faded  and  the 
seed-pods  are  formed.  These  grow  to  a  length  of  from 
two  to  three  feet,  and  when  ripe  are  perfectly  black, 
round,  and  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter. 
The  tree  has  the  appearance  of  bearing  a  prolific  crop 
of  ebony  rulers,  each  hanging  from  the  bough  by  a 
short  string. 

There  is  another  species  of  cassia  fistula,  the  foliage 
of  which  assimilates  to  the  mimosa.  This  bears  a 
thicker,  but  much  shorter,  pod,  of  about  a  foot  in 
length.  The  properties  of  both  are  the  same,  being 
laxative.  Each  seed  within  the  pod  is  surrounded  by 
a  sweet,  black  and  honey-like  substance,  which  con- 
tains the  property  alluded  to. 

The  gamboge  tree  is  commonly  known  in  Ceylon  as 
the  "  ghorka."  This  grows  to  the  common  size  of  an 
apple  tree,  and  bears  a  corrugated  and  intensely  acid 
fruit.  This  is  dried  by  the  natives  and  used  in  curries. 
The  gamboge  is  the  juice  of  the  tree  obtained  by  in- 
cisions in  the  bark.  This  tree  grows  in  great  numbers 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Colombo,  especially  among  the 
cinnamon  gardens.  Here,  also,  the  cashew  tree  grows 
22 


254        Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

to  great  perfection.  The  bark  of  the  latter  is  very  rich 
in  tannin,  and  is  used  by  the  natives  in  the  preparation 
of  hides.  The  fruit  is  like  an  apple  in  appearance,  and 
small,  but  is  highly  astringent.  The  well-known 
cashew-nut  grows  like  an  excrescence  from  the  end  of 
the  apple. 

Many  are  the  varieties  and  uses  of  vegetable  produc- 
tions in  Ceylon,  but  of  these  none  are  more  singular 
and  interesting  than  the  "sack  tree,"  the  Riti  Gaha 
of  the  Cingalese.  From  the  bark  of  this  tree  an  in- 
finite number  of  excellent  sacks  are  procured,  with 
very  little  trouble  or  preparation.  The  tree  being  felled, 
the  branches  are  cut  into  logs  of  the  length  required, 
and  sometimes  these  are  soaked  in  water ;  but  this  is 
not  always  necessary.  The  bark  is  then  well  beaten 
with  a  wooden  mallet,  until  it  is  loosened  from  the 
wood ;  it  is  then  stripped  off  the  log  as  a  stocking  is 
drawn  off  the  leg.  It  is  subsequently  bleached,  and 
one  end  being  sewn  up,  completes  a  perfect  sack  of  a 
thick  fibrous  texture,  somewhat  similar  to  felt. 

These  sacks  are  in  general  use  among  the  natives, 
and  are  preferred  by  them  to  any  other,  as  their  dura- 
bility is  such  that  they  sometimes  descend  from  father 
to  son.  By  constant  use  they  stretch  and  increase  their 
original  size  nearly  one  half.  The  texture  necessarily 
becomes  thinner,  but  the  strength  does  not  appear  to  be 
materially  decreased. 

There  are  many  fibrous  barks  in  Ceylon,  some  of 
which  are  so  strong  that  thin  strips  require  a  great 
amount  of  strength  to  break  them,  but  none  of  these 
have  yet  been  reduced  to  a  marketable  fibre.  Several 
barks  are  more  or  less  aromatic ;  others  would  be  valu- 
able to  the  tanners ;  several  are  highly  esteemed  by  the 


No  Gum  Trees  of  Value  in   Ceylon.          255 

natives  as  most  valuable  astringents,  but  hitherto  none 
have  received  much  notice  from  Europeans.  This  may 
be  caused  by  the  general  want  of  success  of  all  experi- 
ments with  indigenous  produce.  Although  the  jungles 
of  Ceylon  produce  a  long  list  of  articles  of  much  in- 
terest, still  their  value  chiefly  lies  in  their  curiosity ; 
they  are  useful  to  the  native,  but  comparatively  of  little 
worth  to  the  European.  In  fact,  few  things  will  actu- 
ally pay  for  the  trouble  and  expense  of  collecting  and 
transporting.  Throughout  the  vast  forests  and  jungles 
of  Ceylon,  although  the  varieties  of  trees  are  endless, 
there  is  not  one  valuable  gum  known  to  exist.  There 
is  a  great  variety  of  coarse,  unmarketable  productions, 
about  equal  to  the  gum  of  the  cherry  tree,  etc.,  but 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  high-priced  gum  in  the 
island. 

The  export  of  dammer  is  a  mere  trifle — four  tons  in 
1852,  twelve  tons  in  1853.  This  is  a  coarse  and  com- 
paratively valueless  commodity.  No  other  tree  but  the 
doom  tree  produces  any  gum  worth  collecting ;  this 
species  of  rosin  exudes  in  large  quantities  from  an  in- 
cision in  the  bark,  but  the  amount  of  exports  shows  its 
insignificance.  It  is  a  fair  sample  of  Ceylon  produc- 
tions ;  nothing  that  is  uncultivated  is  of  much  pecuniary 
value. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

INDIGENOUS  PRODUCTIONS — THE  BOTANICAL  GARDENS — SUG- 
GESTED EXPERIMENTS — LACK  OF  ENCOURAGEMENT  TO 
GOLD-DIGGERS — THE  PROSPECTS  OF  GOLD-DIGGING — WE 

WANT  "NUGGETS" — WHO  is  TO  BLAME? — GOVERNOR'S  SAL- 
ARY— FALLACIES  OF  A  FIVE  YEARS'  REIGN — NEGLECTED 
EDUCATION  OF  THE  PEOPLE — RESPONSIBILITIES  OF  CON- 
qUEST — PROGRESS  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

THE  Foregoing  chapter  may  appear  to  decry  in  toto 
the  indigenous  productions  of  Ceylon,  as  it  is 
asserted  that  they  are  valueless  in  their  natural  state. 
Nevertheless,  I  do  not  imply  that  they  must  necessarily 
remain  useless.  Where  Nature  simply  creates  a  genus, 
cultivation  extends  the  species,  and  from  an  insignifi- 
cant parent  stock  we  propagate  our  finest  varieties  of 
both  animals  and  vegetables.  Witness  the  wild  kale, 
parsnip,  carrot,  crab-apple,  sloe,  etc.,  all  utterly  worth- 
less, but  nevertheless  the  first  parents  of  their  now 
choice  descendants. 

It  is  therefore  impossible  to  say  what  might  not  be 
done  in  the  improvement  of  indigenous  productions 
were  the  attention  of  science  bestowed  upon  them. 
But  all  this  entails  expense,  and  upon  whom  is  this  to 
fall?  Out  of  a  hundred  experiments  ninety-nine  might 
fail.  In  Ceylon  we  have  no  wealthy  experimentalists, 
no  agricultural  exhibitions,  no  model  farms,  but  every 
256 


Botanical  Gardens.  257 

man  who  settles  in  a  colony  has  left  the  mother  country 
to  better  himself;  therefore,  no  private  enterprise  is 
capable  of  such  speculation.  It  clearly  rests  upon  the 
government  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  to 
prove  the  value  of  the  soil,  which  is  delivered  to  the 
purchaser  at  so  much  per  acre,  good  or  bad.  But  no  ; 
it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  our  government  to  move  from 
an  established  routine.  As  the  squirrel  revolves  his 
cage,  so  governor  after  governor  rolls  his  dull  course 
along,  pockets  his  salary,  and  leaves  the  poor  colony  as 
he  found  it. 

The  government  may  direct  the  attention  of  the  pub- 
lic, in  reply,  to  their  own  establishment — to  the  botan- 
ical gardens.  Have  we  not  botanical  gardens?  We 
have,  indeed,  and  much  good  they  should  do,  if 
conducted  upon  the  principle  of  developing  local 
resources ;  but  this  would  entail  expense,  and,  like 
everything  in  the  hands  of  government,  it  dies  in  its 
birth  for  want  of  consistent  management. 

With  an  able  man  as  superintendent  at  a  good 
salary,  the  beautiful  gardens  at  Peredenia  are  rendered 
next  to  useless  for  want  of  a  fund  at  his  disposal. 
Instead  of  being  conducted  as  an  experimental  farm, 
they  are  little  more  than  ordinary  pleasure-grounds, 
filled  with  the  beautiful  foliage  of  the  tropics  and  kept 
in  perfect  order.  What  benefit  have  they  been  to  the 
colony  ?  Have  the  soils  of  various  districts  been  tested  ? 
have  new  fibres  been  manufactured  from  the  countless 
indigenous  fibrous  plants?  have  new  oils  been  ex- 
tracted? have  medicinal  drugs  been  produced?  have 
dyes  been  extracted?  have  improvements  been  sug- 
gested in  the  cultivation  of  any  of  the  staple  articles  of 
Ceylon  export?  In  fact,  has  ANYTHING  ever  been 
22*  B 


258        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

done  by  government  for  the  interest  of  the  private 
settler  ? 

This  is  not  the  fault  of  the  manager  of  the  gardens  ; 
he  has  the  will,  but  no  funds.  My  idea  of  the  object 
of  a  botanical  garden  is,  that  agricultural  theories 
should  be  reduced  to  facts,  upon  which  private  enter- 
prise may  speculate,  and  by  such  success  the  govern- 
ment should  ultimately  benefit. 

It  is  well  known  to  the  commonest  school-boy  that 
soil  which  may  be  favorable  to  one  plant  is  not  adapted 
to  another ;  therefore,  where  there  is  a  diversity  of  soils 
it  stands  to  reason  that  there  should  be  a  corresponding 
variety  of  crops  to  suit  those  soils,  so  as  to  make  the 
whole  surface  of  the  land  yield  its  proportion. 

In  Ceylon,  where  the  chief  article  of  production  is 
coffee,  land  (upon  an  estate)  which  is  not  suitable  to 
this  cultivation  is  usually  considered  waste.  Thus  the 
government  and  the  private  proprietor  are  alike  losers 
in  possessing  an  amount  of  unprofitable  soil. 

Now,  surely  it  is  the  common  sense  object  in  the 
establishment  of  a  botanical  garden  to  discover  for  each 
description  of  soil  a  remunerating  crop,  so  that  an 
estate  should  be  cultivated  to  its  uttermost,  and  the 
word  u  waste"  be  unknown  upon  the  property. 

Under  the  present  system  of  management  this  is  im- 
possible ;  the  sum  allowed  per  annum  is  but  just  suffi- 
cient to  keep  the  gardens  in  proper  condition,  and  the 
abilities  of  the  botanist  in  charge  are  sacrificed.  Many 
a  valuable  plant  now  lies  screened  in  the  shades  of 
remote  jungles,  which  the  enterprising  botanist  would 
bring  to  light  were  he  enabled  by  government  to  make 
periodical  journeys  through  the  interior.  These  jour- 
neys should  form  a  part  of  his  duties ;  his  botanical 


Discovery  of  Gold.  259 

specimens  should  be  his  game,  and  they  should  be  pur- 
sued with  the  ardor  of  the  chase  itself,  and  subsequently 
transferred  to  the  gardens  and  their  real  merits  discov- 
ered by  experiments. 

But  what  can  be  expected  from  an  apathetic  system 
of  government?  Dyes,  fibres,  gums  may  abound  in 
the  forests,  metals  and  even  gold  may  be  concealed  be- 
neath our  feet ;  but  the  governor  does  not  consider  it  a 
part  of  his  duty  to  prosecute  the  search,  or  even  to  ren- 
der facilities  to  those  of  a  more  industrious  tempera- 
ment. What  can  better  exemplify  the  case  than  the 
recent  discovery  of  gold  at  Newera  Ellia  ? 

Here  was  the  plain  fact  that  gold  was  found  in  small 
specks,  not  in  one  spot,  but  everywhere  throughout  the 
swamps  for  miles  in  the  vicinity — that  at  a  depth  of 
two  or  three  feet  from  the  surface  this  proof  was  ad- 
duced of  its  presence ;  but  the  governor  positively  re- 
fused to  assist  the  discoverers  ("  diggers,"  who  were 
poor  sailors  visiting  Ceylon),  although  they  merely 
asked  for  subsistence  until  they  should  be  able  to  reach 
a  greater  depth.  This  may  appear  too  absurd  to  be 
correct,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true. 

At  the  time  that  I  commenced  these  sketches  of 
Ceylon  the  gold  was  just  discovered,  and  I  touched  but 
lightly  upon  it,  in  the  expectation  that  a  few  months  of 
labor,  aided  by  government  support,  would  have  estab- 
lished its  presence  in  remunerating  quantities.  The 
swampy  nature  of  the  soil  rendered  the  digging  impos- 
sible without  the  aid  of  powerful  pumps  to  reduce  the 
water,  which  filled  the  shaft  so  rapidly  that  no  greater 
depth  could  be  obtained  than  eighteen  feet,  and  even 
this  at  immense  labor. 

The  diggers  were  absolutely  penniless,  and  but  for 


260        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

assistance  received  from  private  parties  they  must  have 
starved.  The  rainy  season  was  at  its  height,  and  tor- 
rents fell  night  and  day  with  little  intermission.'  Still, 
these  poor  little  fellows  worked  early  and  late,  wet  and 
dry,  ever  sanguine  of  success,  and  they  at  length  pe- 
titioned the  government  to  give  them  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence for  a  few  months — "  subsistence"  for  two  men, 
and  the  assistance  of  a  few  coolies.  This  was  refused, 
and  the  reply  stated  that  the  government  intended  to 
leave  the  search  for  gold  to  "  private  enterprise.'*  No 
reward  was  offered  for  its  discovery  as  in  other  colonies, 
but  the  governor  would  leave  it  to  "private  enterprise." 
A  promising  enterprise  truly,  when  every  landholder  in 
Ceylon,  on  referring  to  his  title-deeds,  observes  the 
reservation  of  all  precious  metals  to  the  crown.  This 
is  a  fair  sample  of  the  narrow-minded,  selfish  policy  of 
a  government  which,  in  endeavoring  to  save  a  little, 
loses  all ;  a  miserable  tampering  with  the  public  in 
attempting  to  make  a  cat's  paw  of  private  enterprise. 

How  has  this  ended  ?  The  diggers  left  the  island  in 
disgust.  If  the  gold  is  there  in  quantity,  there  in 
quantity  it  remains  to  the  present  time,  unsought  for. 
The  subject  of  gold  is  so  generally  interesting,  and  in 
this  case  of  such  importance  to  the  colony,  that,  believ- 
ing as  I  do  that  it  does  exist  in  large  quantities,  I  must 
claim  the  reader's  patience  in  going  into  this  subject 
rather  fully. 

Let  us  take  the  matter  as  it  stands. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  I  mentioned  at  an 
early  part  of  these  pages  that  gold  was  first  discovered 
in  Ceylon  by  the  diggers  in  the  bed  of  a  stream  near 
Kandy — that  they  subsequently  came  to  Newera  Ellia, 
and  there  discovered  gold  likewise. 


Prospects  of  Gold -Diggers.  261 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  main  features  of  the 
country  at  Nevvera  Ellia  and  the  vicinity  are  broad  flats 
or  swampy  plains,  surrounded  by  hills  and  mountains : 
the  former  covered  with  rank  grass  and  \ntersected  by 
small  streams,  the  latter  covered  with  dense  forest. 
The  soil  abounds  with  rocks  of  gneiss  and  quartz, 
some  of  the  latter  rose-color,  some  pure  white.  The 
gold  has  hitherto  been  found  in  the  plains  only.  These 
plains  extend  over  some  thirty  miles  of  country,  divided 
into  numerous  patches  by  intervening  jungles. 

The  surface  soil  is  of  a  peaty  nature,  perfectly  black, 
soapy  when  wet,  and  as  light  as  soot  when  dry ;  worth- 
less for  cultivation.  This  top  soil  is  about  eighteen 
inches  thick,  and  appears  to  have  been  the  remains  of 
vegetable  matter  washed  down  from  the  surrounding 
hills  and  forests. 

This  swampy  black  soil  rests  upon  a  thin  stratum  of 
brownish  clay,  not  more  than  a  few  inches  thick,  which, 
forming  a  second  layer,  rests  in  its  turn  upon  a  snow- 
white  rounded  quartz  gravel  intermixed  with  white 
pipe-clay. 

This  contains  gold,  every  shovelful  of  earth  pro- 
ducing, when  washed,  one  or  more  specks  of  the  pre- 
cious metal. 

The  stratum  of  rounded  quartz  is  about  two  feet 
thick,  and  is  succeeded  by  pipe-clay,  intermixed  with 
quartz  gravel,  to  a  depth  of  eighteen  feet.  Here  an- 
other stratum  of  quartz  gravel  is  met  with,  perfectly 
water-worn  and  rounded  to  the  size  of  a  twelve-pound 
shot. 

In  this  stratum  the  gold  was  of  increased  size,  and 
some  pieces  were  discovered  as  large  as  small  grains 
of  rice ;  but  no  greater  depth  was  attained  at  the  time 


262        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

of  writing  than  to  this  stratum,  viz.,  eighteen  feet  from 
the  surface. 

No  other  holes  were  sunk  to  a  greater  depth  than 
ten  feet,  on  account  of  the  influx  of  water,  but  similar 
shafts  were  made  in  various  places,  and  all  with  equal 
success. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  first  stratum  of 
quartz  throughout  to  the  greatest  depth  attained  gold 
was  present. 

Upon  washing  away  the  clay  and  gravel,  a  great 
number  of  gems  of  small  value  remained  (chiefly  sap- 
phire, ruby,  jacinth  and  green  tourmaline).  These 
being  picked  out,  there  remained  a  jet-black  fine  sand, 
resembling  gunpowder.  This  was  of  great  specific 
gravity,  and  when  carefully  washed,  discovered  the 
gold — some  in  grains,  some  in  mere  specks,  and  some 
like  fine,  golden  flour. 

At  this  interesting  stage  the  search  has  been  given 
up :  although  the  cheering  sight  of  gold  can  be  ob- 
tained in  nearly  every  pan  of  earth  at  such  trifling 
depths,  and  literally  in  every  direction,  the  prospect  is 
abandoned.  The  government  leaves  it  to  private  en- 
terprise, but  the  enterprising  public  have  no  faith  in 
the  government. 

Without  being  over-sanguine,  or,  on  the  other  side, 
closing  our  ears  with  asinine  stubbornness,  let  us  take 
an  impartial  view  of  the  facts  determined,  and  draw 
rational  conclusions. 

It  appears  that  from  a  depth  of  two  and  a  half  feet 
from  the  surface  to  the  greatest  depth  as  yet  attained 
(eighteen  feet),  gold  exists  throughout. 

It  also  appears  that  this  is  not  only  the  case  in  one 
particular  spot,  but  all  over  this  part  of  the  country, 


The  "Liberality"  of  Government.  263 

and  that  this  fact  is  undeniable  ;  and,  nevertheless,  the 
government  did  not  believe  in  the  existence  of  gold  in 
Ceylon  until  these  diggers  discovered  it;  and  when 
discovered,  they  gave  the  diggers  neither  reward  nor 
encouragement,  but  they  actually  met  the  discovery  by 
a  published  prohibition  against  the  search  ;  they  then 
latterly  withdrew  the  prohibition  and  left  it  to  private 
enterprise,  but  neglected  the  unfortunate  diggers.  In 
this  manner  is  the  colony  mismanaged  ;  in  this  man- 
ner is  all  public  spirit  damped,  all  private  enterprise 
checked,  and  all  men  who  have  anything  to  venture 
disgusted. 

The  liberality  of  a  government  must  be  boundless 
where  the  actual  subsistence  for  a  few  months  is  re- 
fused to  the  discoverers  of  gold  in  a  country  where, 
hitherto,  its  presence  had  been  denied. 

It  would  be  speculative  to  anticipate  the  vast  changes 
that  an  extended  discovery  would  effect  in  such  a  colony 
as  Ceylon.  We  have  before  us  the  two  pictures  of 
California  and  Australia,  which  have  been  changed  as 
though  by  the  magician's  wand  within  the  last  few 
years.  It  becomes  us  now  simply  to  consider  the 
probability  of  the  gold  being  in  such  quantities  in  Cey- 
lon as  to  effect  such  changes.  We  have  at  present 
these  simple  data — that  in  a  soft,  swampy  soil  gold  has 
been  found  close  to  the  surface  in  small  specks,  gra- 
dually increasing  in  size  and  quantity  as  a  greater  depth 
has  been  attained. 

From  the  fact  that  gold  will  naturally  lie  deep,  from 
its  specific  gravity,  it  is  astonishing  that  any  vestige  of 
such  a  metal  should  be  discovered  in  such  soil  so  close 
to  the  surface.  Still  more  astonishing  that  it  should  be 
so  generally  disseminated  throughout  the  locality. 


264        Eight  Years'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

This  would  naturally  be  accepted  as  a  proof  that  the 
soil  is  rich  in  gold.  But  the  question  will  then  arise, 
Where  is  the  gold?  The  quantities  found  are  a  mere 
nothing — it  is  only  dust:  we  want  "nuggets." 

The  latter  is  positively  the  expression  that  I  myself 
fi-equently  heard  in  Ceylon — "  We  want  nuggets." 

Who  does  not  want  nuggets?  But  people  speak  of 
"  nuggets"  as  they  would  of  pebbles,  forgetting  that  the 
very  principle  which  keeps  the  light  dust  at  the  surface 
has  forced  the  heavier  gold  to  a  greater  depth,  and 
that,  far  from  complaining  of  the  lack  of  nuggets  when 
digging  has  hardly  commenced,  they  should  gaze  with 
wonder  at  the  bare  existence  of  the  gold  in  its  present 
form  and  situation. 

The  diggings  at  Ballarat  are  from  a  hundred  to  an 
hundred  and  sixty  feet  deep  in  hard  ground,  and  yet 
people  in  Ceylon  expect  to  find  heavy  gold  in  mere 
mud,  close  to  the  surface.  The  idea  is  preposterous, 
and  I  conceive  it  only  reasonable  to  infer  from  the 
present  appearances  that  gold  does  exist  in  large  quan- 
tities in  Ceylon.  But  as  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
such  to  be  the  case,  so  it  is  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  private  individuals  will  invest  capital  in  so  uncer- 
tain a  speculation  as  mining,  without  facilities  from  the 
government,  and  in  the  very  face  of  the  clause  in  their 
own  title-deeds  "  that  all  precious  metals  belong  to  the 
crown." 

This  is  the  anomalous  position  of  the  gold  in  Ceylon 
under  the  governorship  of  Sir  G.  Anderson. 

Nevertheless,  it  becomes  a  question  whether  we  should 
blame  the  man  or  the  system,  but  the  question  arises  in 
this  case,  as  with  everything  else  in  which  government 
is  concerned,  "Where  is  the  fault?"  "Echo  answers 


Who  is  to  Blame  ?  265 

*  Where  ?' "  But  the  public  are  not  satisfied  with 
echoes,  and  in  this  matter-of-fact  age  people  look  to 
those  who  fill  ostensible  posts  and  draw  bona  Jide  sala- 
ries ;  and  if  these  men  hold  the  appointments,  no  matter 
under  what  system,  they  become  the  deserved  objects 
of  either  praise  or  censure. 

Thus  it  may  appear  too  much  to  say  that  Sir  G. 
Anderson  is  liable  for  the  mismanagement  of  the  colony 
in  toto — for  the  total  neglect  of  the  public  roads.  It 
may  appear  too  much  to  say,  When  you  came  to  the 
colony  you  found  the  roads  in  good  order  :  they  are  now 
impassable ;  communication  is  actually  cut  off*  from 
places  of  importance.  This  is  your  fault,  these  are 
the  fruits  of  your  imbecility  ;  your  answer  to  our  peti- 
tions for  repairs  was,  "  There  is  no  money  ;"  and  yet  at 
the  close  of  the  year  you  proclaimed  and  boasted  of  a 
saving  of  twenty-seven  thousand  pounds  in  the  treasury  ! 
This  seems  a  fearful  contradiction ;  and  the  whole 
public  received  it  as  such.  The  governor  may  com- 
plain that  the  public  expect  too  much  ;  the  public  may 
complain  that  the  governor  does  too  little. 

Upon  these  satisfactory  terms,  governors  and  their 
dependants  bow  each  other  out,  the  colony  being  a  kind 
of  opera  stall,  a  reserved  seat  for  the  governor  during 
the  performance  of  five  acts  (as  we  will  term  his  five 
years  of  office)  ;  and  the  fifth  act,  as  usual  in  tragedies, 
exposes  the  whole  plot  of  the  preceding  four,  and  winds 
up  with  the  customary  disasters. 

Now  the  question  is,  how  long  this  age  of  misrule 
will  last. 

Every  one  complains,  and  still  every  one  endures. 
Each  man  has  a  grievance,  but  no  man  has  a  remedy. 
Still,  the  absurdity  of  our  colonial  appointments  is  such 
23 


266        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

that  if  steps  were  purposely  taken  to  ensure  the  "destruc- 
tion of  the  colonies,  they  could  not  have  been  more 
certain. 

We  will  commence  with  a  new  governor  dealt  out  to 
a  colony.  We  will  simply  call  him  a  governor,  not 
troubling  ourselves  with  his  qualifications,  as  of  course 
they  have  not  been  considered  at  the  Colonial  Office. 
He  may  be  an  upright,  clear-headed,  indefatigable  man, 
in  the  prime  of  life,  or  he  may  be  old,  crotchety,  pig- 
headed, and  mentally  and  physically  incapable.  He 
may  be  either ;  it  does  not  much  matter,  as  he  can  only 
remain  for  five  years,  at  which  time  his  term  expires. 

We  will  suppose  that  the  crotchety  old  gentleman 
arrives  first.  The  public  will  be  in  a  delightful  per- 
plexity as  to  what  the  new  governor  will  do — whether 
he  will  carry  out  the  views  of  his  predecessor,  or 
whether  he  will  upset  everything  that  has  been  done  in 
the  past  five  years  ;  all  is  uncertainty.  The  only  thing 
known  positively  is,  that,  good  or  bad,  he  will  pocket 
seven  thousand  a  year  !  * 

His  term  of  government  will  be  chequered  by  many 
disappointments  to  the  public,  and,  if  he  has  any  feeling 
at  all,  by  many  heartburnings  to  himself.  Physically 
incapable  of  much  exertion,  he  will  be  unable  to  travel 
over  so  wild  a  country  as  Ceylon.  A  good  governor 
in  a  little  island  may  be  a  very  bad  governor  in  a  large 
island,  as  a  good  cab-driver  might  make  a  bad  four-in- 
hand  man  ;  thus  our  old  governor  would  have  no  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  country,  but  would  depend  upon 
prejudiced  accounts  for  his  information.  Thus  he 
would  never  arrive  at  any  correct  information ;  he 
would  receive  all  testimony  with  doubt,  considering 
*  Since  reduced  to  five  thousand  pounds. 


The  Two  Governors.  267 

that  each  had  some  personal  motive  in  offering  advice, 
and  one  tongue  would  thus  nullify  the  other  until  he 
would  at  length  come  to  the  conclusion  of  David  in  his 
haste,  "that all  men  are  liars,"  and  turn  a  deaf  ear  to 
ail.  This  would  enable  him  to  pass  the  rest  of  his  term 
without  any  active  blunders,  and  he  might  vary  the  pas- 
sive monotony  of  his  existence  by  a  system  of  contra- 
diction to  all  advice  gratis.  A  little  careful  pruning  of 
expenses  during  the  last  two  years  of  his  term  might 
give  a  semblance  of  increase  of  revenue  over  expendi- 
ture, to  gain  a  smile  from  the  Colonial  Office.  On  his 
return  the  colony  would  be  left  with  neglected  roads, 
consequent  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  necessary 
funds. 

This  incubus  at  length  removed  from  the  colony,  may 
be  succeeded  by  a  governor  of  the  first  class. 

He  arrives ;  finds  everything  radically  wrong ;  the 
great  arteries  of  the  country  (the  roads)  in  disorder ;  a 
large  outlay  required  to  repair  them.  Thus  his  first 
necessary  act  begins  by  an  outlay  at  a  time  when  all 
outlay  is  considered  equivalent  to  crime.  This  gains 
him  a  frown  from  the  Colonial  Office.  Conscious  of 
right,  however,  he  steers  his  own  course  ;  he  travels 
over  the  whole  country,  views  its  features  personally, 
judges  of  its  requirements  and  resources,  gathers  ad- 
vice from  capable  persons,  forms  his  own  opinion,  and 
acts  accordingly. 

We  will  allow  two  years  of  indefatigable  research  to 
have  passed  over  our  model  governor ;  by  that  time, 
and  not  before,  he  may  have  become  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  colony  in  all  its  bearings.  He  has 
comprehended  the  vast  natural  capabilities,  he  has 
formed  his  plans  methodically  for  the  improvement  of 


268        Eight  Tears'  Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

the  country ;  not  by  any  rash  and  speculative  outlay, 
but,  step  by  step,  he  hopes  to  secure  the  advancement 
of  his  schemes. 

This  is  a  work  of  time ;  he  has  much  to  do.  The 
country  is  in  an  uncivilized  state  ;  he  sees  the  vestiges 
of  past  grandeur  around  him,  and  his  views  embrace  a 
wide  field  for  the  renewal  of  former  prosperity.  Tanks 
must  be  repaired,  canals  reopened,  emigration  of  Chi- 
nese and  Malabars  encouraged,  forests  and  jungles 
cleared,  barren  land  brought  into  fertility.  The  work 
of  years  is  before  him,  but  the  expiration  of  his  term 
draws  near.  Time  is  precious,  but  nevertheless  he 
must  refer  his  schemes  to  the  Colonial  Office.  What 
do  they  know  of  Ceylon  ?  To  them  his  plans  seem  vis- 
ionary ;  at  all  events  they  will  require  an  outlay.  A 
correspondence  ensues — that  hateful  correspondence  ! 
This  ensures  delay.  Time  flies ;  the  expiration  of  his 
term  draws  near.  Even  his  sanguine  temperament  has 
ceased  to  hope ;  his  plans  are  not  even  commenced,  to 
work  out  which  would  require  years ;  he  never  could 
see  them  realized,  and  his  successor  might  neglect 
them  and  lay  the  onus  of  the  failure  upon  him,  the 
originator,  or  claim  the  merit  of  their  success. 

So  much  for  a  five  years'  term  of  governorship,  the 
absurdity  of  which  is  superlative.  It  is  so  entirely  con- 
trary to  the  system  of  management  in  private  affairs 
that  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  cause  that  could  have 
given  rise  to  such  a  regulation.  In  matters  great  or 
small,  the  capability  of  the  manager  is  the  first  con- 
sideration ;  and  if  this  be  proved,  the  value  of  the  man 
is  enhanced  accordingly ;  no  employer  would  lose 
him. 

But  in  colonial  governments  the  system  is  directly 


Neglected  Education  of  the  People.          269 

opposite,  for  no  sooner  does  the  governor  become  com- 
petent than  he  is  withdrawn  and  transferred  to  another 
sphere.  Thus  every  colony  is  like  a  farm  held  on  a 
short  lease,  which  effectually  debars  it  from  improve- 
ment, as  the  same  feeling  which  actuates  the  individual 
in  neglecting  the  future,  because  he  will  not  personally 
enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labor,  must  in  some  degree  fetter 
the  enterprise  of  a  five  years'  governor.  He  is  little 
better  than  the  Lord  Mayor,  who  flutters  proudly  for  a 
year,  and  then  drops  his  borrowed  feathers  in  his 
moulting  season. 

Why  should  not  governors  serve  an  apprenticeship 
for  five  years  as  colonial  secretaries  to  the  colonies  they 
are  destined  for,  if  five  years  is  still  to  be  the  limited 
term  of  their  office?  This  would  ensure  a  knowledge 
of  the  colony  at  a  secretary's  salary,  and  render  them 
fit  for  both  the  office  and  salary  of  governor  when 
called  upon  ;  whereas,  by  the  present  system,  they  at 
once  receive  a  governor's  salary  before  they  understand 
their  duties. 

In  casually  regarding  the  present  picture  of  Ceylon, 
it  is  hard  to  say  which  point  has  been  most  neglected ; 
but  a  short  residence  in  the  island  will  afford  a  fair 
sample  of  government  inactivity  in  the  want  of  educa^ 
tion  among  the  people. 

Upon  this  subject  more  might  be  said  than  lies  in  my 
province  to  dwell  upon  ;  nevertheless,  after  fifty  years' 
possession  of  the  Kandian  districts,  this  want  is  so 
glaring  that  I  cannot  withhold  a  few  remarks  upon  the 
subject,  as  I  consider  the  ignorant  state  of  the  native 
population  a  complete  check  to  the  advancement  of  the 
colony. 

In  commencing  this  subject,  I  must  assume  that  the 

23* 


270        Eight  fears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

conquerors  of  territory  are  responsible  for  the  moral 
welfare  of  the  inhabitants  ;  therefore  our  responsibilty 
increases  with  our  conquests.  A  mighty  onus  thus 
rests  upon  Great  Britain,  which  few  consider  when 
they  glory  in  the  boast,  "  that  the  sun  never  sets  upon 
her  dominions." 

This  thought  leads  us  to  a  comparison  of  power  be- 
tween ourselves  and  other  countries,  and  we  trace  the 
small  spot  upon  the  world's  map  which  marks  our 
little  island,  and  in  every  sphere  we  gaze  with  wonder 
at  our  vast  possessions.  This  is  a  picture  of  the  pres- 
ent. What  will  the  future  be  in  these  days  of  advance- 
ment? It  were  vain  to  hazard  a  conjecture;  but  we 
can  look  back  upon  the  past,  and  build  upon  this  foun- 
dation our  future  hopes. 

When  the  pomps  and  luxuries  of  Eastern  cities  spread 
throughout  Ceylon,  and  millions  of  inhabitants  fed  on 
her  fertility,  when  the  hands  of  her  artists  chiseled  the 
figures  of  her  gods  from  the  rude  rock,  when  her 
vessels,  laden  with  ivory  and  spices,  traded  with  the 
West,  what  were  we  ?  A  forest-covered  country,  peo- 
pled by  a  fierce  race  of  savages  clad  in  skins,  bowing 
before  druidical  idolatry,  paddling  ajong  our  shores  in 
frames  of  wickerwork  and  hide. 

The  ancient  deities  of  Ceylon  are  in  the  same  spots, 
unchanged  ;  the  stones  of  the  Druids  stand  unmoved  ; 
but  what  has  become  of  the  nations?  'Those  of  the 
East  have  faded  away  ai  d  their  strength  has  perished. 
Their  ships  are  crumbled ;  the  rude  canoe  glides  over 
their  waves  ;  the  spices  grow  wild  in  their  jungles ; 
and,  unshorn  and  unclad,  the  inhabitants  wander  on 
the  face  of  the  land. 

Is  it  "  chance"  that  has  worked  this  change  ?   Where 


Responsibilities  of  Conquest.  271 

is  the  forest-covered  country  and  its  savage  race,  its 
skin-clad  warriors  and  their  frail  coracles? 

There,  where  the  forest  stood,  from  north  to  south 
and  from  east  to  west,  spreads  a  wide  field  of  rich  fer- 
tility. There,  on  those  rivers  where  the  basket-boats 
once  sailed,  rise  the  taut  spars  of  England's  navy. 
Where  the  rude  hamlet  rested  on  its  banks  in  rural 
solitude,  the  never-weary  din  of  commerce  rolls  through 
the  city  of  the  world.  The  locomotive  rushes  like  a 
thunder-clap  upon  the  rail ;  the  steamer  ploughs  against 
the  adverse  wind,  and,  rapid  as  the  lightning,  the  tele- 
graph cripples  time.  The  once  savage  land  is  the 
nucleus  of  the  arts  and  civilization.  The  nation  that 
from  time  to  time  was  oppressed,  invaded,  conquered, 
but  never  subjected,  still  pressed  against  the  weight  of 
adversity,  and,  as  age  after  age  rolled  on,  and  mightier 
woes  and  civil  strife  gathered  upon  her,  still  the  germ 
of  her  destiny,  as  it  expanded,  threw  off  her  load,  until 
she  at  length  became  a  nation  envied  and  feared. 

It  was  then  that  the  powers  of  the  world  were  armed 
against  her,  and  all  Europe  joined  to  tear  the  laurels 
from  her  crown,  and  fleets  and  armies  thronged  from 
all  points  against  the  devoted  land,  and  her  old  enemy, 
the  Gaul,  hovered  like  his  own  eagle  over  the  expected 
prey. 

The  thunder  of  the  cannon  shook  the  world,  and 
blood  tinged  the  waves  around  the  land,  and  war  and 
tumult  shrieked  like  a  tempest  over  the  fair  face  of 
Nature ;  the  din  of  battle  smothered  all  sounds  of 
peace,  and  years  passed  on  and  thicker  grew  the 
gloom.  It  was  then  the  innate  might  of  the  old  Briton 
roused  itself  to  action  and  strained  those  giant  nerves 
which  brought  us  victory.  The  struggle  was  past,  and 


272        Eight  Yearf   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

as  the  smoke  of  battle  cleared  from  the  surface  of  the 
world,  the  flag  of  England  waved  in  triumph  on  the 
ocean,  her  fleets  sat  swan-like  on  the  waves,  her  stand- 
ard floated  on  the  strongholds  of  the  universe,  and  far 
and  wide  stretched  the  vast  boundaries  of  her  con- 
quests. 

Again  I  ask,  is  this  the  effect  of  "  chance?"  or  is  it 
the  mighty  will  of  Omnipotence,  which,  choosing  his 
instruments  from  the  humbler  ranks,  has  snatched  Eng- 
land from  her  lowly  state,  and  has  exalted  her  to  be  the 
apostle  of  Christianity  throughout  the  world  ? 

Here  lies  her  responsibility.  The  conquered  nations 
are  in  her  hands  ;  they  have  been  subject  to  her  for  half 
a  century,  but  they  know  neither  her  language  nor  her 
religion. 

How  many  millions  of  human  beings  of  all  creeds 
and  colors  does  she  control  ?  Are  they  or  their  descend- 
ants to  embrace  our  faith? — that  is,  are  we  the  divine 
instrument  for  accomplishing  the  vast  change  that  we 
expect  by  the  universal  acknowlegment  of  Christianity? 
or  are  we — I  pause  before  the  suggestion — are  we  but 
another  of  those  examples  of  human  insignificance,  / 
that,  as  from  dust  we  rose,  so  to  dust  we  shall  return  ? — 
shall  we  be  but  another  in  the  long  list  of  nations 
whose  ruins  rest  upon  the  solitudes  of  Nature,  like 
warnings  to  the  proud  cities  which  triumph  in  their 
strength?  Shall  the  traveler  in  future  ages  place  his 
foot  upon  the  barren  sod  and  exclaim,  "  Here  stood 
their  great  city !" 

The  inhabitants  of  Nineveh  would  have  scoffed  at 
such  a  supposition.  And  yet  they  fell,  and  yet  the 
desert  sand  shrouded  their  cities  as  the  autumn  leaves 
fall  on  the  faded  flowers  of  summer. 


Progress  of  Christianity.  273 

To  a  fatalist  it  can  matter  but  little  whether  a  nation 
fulfills  its  duty,  or  whether,  by  neglecting  it,  punish- 
ment should  be  drawn  down  upon  its  head.  According 
to  his  theory,  neither  good  nor  evil  acts  would  alter  a 
predestined  course  of  events.  There  are  apparently 
fatalist  governments  as  Well  as  individuals,  which, 
absorbed  in  the  fancied  prosperity  of  the  present,  legis- 
late for  temporal  advantages  only. 

Thus  we  see  the  most  inconsistent  and  anomalous 
conditions  imposed  in  treaties  with  conquered  powers  ; 
we  see,  for  instance,  in  Ceylon,  a  protection  granted  to 
the  Buddhist  religion,  while  flocks  of  missionaries  are 
sent  out  to  convert  the  heathen.  We  even  stretch  the 
point  so  far  as  to  place  a  British  sentinel  on  guard  at 
the  Buddhist  temple  in  Kandy,  as  though  in  mockery 
of  our  Protestant  church  a  hundred  paces  distant. 

At  the  same  time  that  we  acknowledge  and  protect 
the  Buddhist  religion,  we  pray  that  Christianity  shall 
spread  through  the  whole  world  ;  and  we  appoint  bish- 
ops to  our  colonies  at  the  same  time  we  neglect  the 
education  of  the  inhabitants. 

When  I  say  we  neglect  the  education  I  do  not  mean 
to  infer  that  there  are  no  government  schools,  but  that 
the  education  of  the  people,  instead  of  being  one  of 
the  most  important  objects  of  the  government,  is  con- 
sidered of  so  little  moment  that  it  is  tantamount  to 
neglected. 

There  are  various  opinions  as  to  the  amount  of  learn- 
ing which  constitutes  education,  and  at  some  of  the 
government  schools  the  native  children  are  crammed 
with  useless  nonsense,  which,  by  raising  them  above 
their  natural  position,  totally  unfits  them  for  their 
pioper  sphere.  This  is  what  the  government  calls 

8 


274        Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

education  ;  and  the  same  time  and  expense  thus  em- 
ployed in  teaching  a  few  would  educate  treble  the 
number  in  plain  English.  It  is  too  absurd  to  hear  the 
arguments  in  favor  of  mathematics,  geography,  etc., 
etc.,  for  the  native  children,  when  a  large  proportion 
of  our  own  population  in  Great  Britain  can  neither 
read  nor  write. 

The  great  desideratum  in  native  education  is  a  tho- 
rough knowledge  of  the  English  tongue,  which  natu- 
rally is  the  first  stone  for  any  superstructure  of  more 
extended  learning.  This  brings  them  within  the  reach 
of  the  missionary,  not  only  in  conversation,  but  it  en- 
ables them  to  benefit  by  books,  which  are  otherwise  use- 
less. It  lessens  the  distance  between  the  white  man 
and  the  black,  and  an  acquaintance  with  the  English 
language  engenders  a  taste  for  English  habits.  The 
first  dawn  of  civilization  commences  with  a  knowledge 
of  our  language.  The  native  immediately  adopts  some 
English  customs  and  ideas,  and  drops  a  corresponding 
number  of  his  own.  In  fact,  he  is  a  soil  fit  to  work 
upon,  instead  of  being  a  barren  rock  as  hitherto,  firm 
in  his  own  ignorance  and  prejudices. 

In  the  education  of  the  rising  native  generation  lies 
the  hope  of  ultimate  conversion.  You  may  as  well  try 
to  turn  pitch  into  snow  as  to  eradicate  the  dark  stain 
of  heathenism  from  the  present  race.  Nothing  can  be 
done  with  them  ;  they  must  be  abandoned  like  the  bar- 
ren fig-tree,  and  the  more  attention  bestowed  upon  the 
young  shoots. 

But,  unfortunately,  this  is  a  popular  error,  and,  like 
all  such,  one  full  of  prejudice.  Abandon  the  present 
race !  Methinks  I  hear  the  cry  from  Exeter  Hall. 
But  the  good  people  at  home  have  no  idea  to  what  an 


Ignorance  of  Native  Population.  275 

extent  they  are  at  present,  and  always  have  been,  aban- 
doned. Where  the  children  who  can  be  educated  with 
success  are  neglected  at  the  present  day,  it  may  be  im- 
agined that  the  parents  have  been  but  little  cared  for ; 
thus,  in  advocating  their  abandonment,  it  is  simply  pro- 
posing an  extra  amount  of  attention  to  be  bestowed 
upon  the  next  generation. 

There  are  many  large  districts  of  Ceylon  where  no 
schools  of  any  kind  are  established.  In  the  Ouva 
country,  which  is  one  of  the  most  populous,  I  have  had 
applications  from  the  natives,  begging  me  to  interest 
myself  in  obtaining  some  arrangement  of  the  kind. 
Throngs  of  natives  applied,  describing  the  forlorn  con- 
dition of  their  district,  all  being  not  only  anxious  to 
send  their  children  to  some  place  where  they  could 
learn  free  of  expense,  but  offering  to  pay  a  weekly  sti- 
pend in  return.  "  They  are  growing  up  as  ignorant 
as  our  young  buffaloes,"  was  a  remark  made  by  one  of 
the  headmen  of  the  villages,  and  this  within  twelve 
miles  of  Newera  Ellin. 

Now,  leaving  out  the  question  of  policy  in  endeavor- 
ing to  make  the  language  of  our  own  country  the  com- 
mon tongue  of  a  conquered  colony,  it  must  be  admitted 
that,  simply  as  a  question  of  duty,  it  is  incumbent 
upon  the  government  to  do  all  in  its  power  for  the 
moral  advancement  of  the  native  population.  It  is 
known  that  the  knowledge  of  our  language  is  the  first 
step  necessary  to  this  advancement,  and  nevertheless 
it  is  left  undone ;  the  population  is  therefore  neglected. 

I  have  already  adverted  to  the  useless  system  in  the 
government  schools  of  forcing  a  superabundant  amount 
of  knowledge  into  the  children's  brains,  and  thereby 
raising  them  above  their  position.  A  contrasting  ex- 


276        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

ample  of  good  common-sense  education  has  recently 
been  given  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thurston  (who  is  indefati- 
gable in  his  profession)  in  the  formation  of  an  indus- 
trial school  at  Colombo. 

This  is  precisely  the  kind  of  education  which  is  re- 
quired ;  and  it  has  already  been  attended  with  results 
most  beneficial  on  its  limited  scale. 

This  school  is  conducted  on  the  principle  that  the 
time  of  every  boy  shall  not  only  be  of  service  to  him- 
self, but  shall  likewise  tend  to  the  support  of  the  estab- 
lishment. The  children  are  accordingly  instructed  in 
such  pursuits  as  shall  be  the  means  of  earning  a  liveli- 
hood in  future  years :  some  are  taught  a  trade,  others 
are  employed  in  the  cultivation  of  gardens,  and  subse- 
quently in  the  preparation  of  a  variety  of  produce. 
Among  others,  the  preparation  of  tapioca  from  the  root 
of  the  manioc  has  recently  been  attended  with  great 
success.  In  fact,  they  are  engaged  during  their  leisure 
hours  in  a  variety  of  experiments,  all  of  which  tend  to 
an  industrial  turn  of  mind,  benefiting  not  only  the  lad 
and  the  school,  but  also  the  government,  by  preparing 
for  the  future  men  who  will  be  serviceable  and  indus- 
trious in  their  station. 

Here  is  a  lesson  for  the  government  which,  if  carried 
out  on  an  extensive  scale,  would  work  a  greater  change 
in  the  colony  within  the  next  twenty  years  than  all  the 
preaching  of  the  last  fifty. 

Throughout  Ceylon,  in  every  district,  there  should  be 
established  one  school  upon  this  principle  for  every 
hundred  boys,  and  a  small  tract  of  land  granted  to 
each.  One  should  be  attached  to  the  botanical  gardens 
at  Peredenia,  and  instruction  should  be  given  to  enable 
every  school  to  perform  its  own  experiments  in  agri- 


Ho-w  to  Convert  the  Natives.  277 

culture.  By  this  means,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
we  should  secure  an  educated  and  useful  population,  in 
lieu  of  the  present  indolent  and  degraded  race :  an  im- 
proved system  of  cultivation,  new  products,  a  variety 
of  trades,  and,  in  fact,  a  test  of  the  capabilities  of  the 
country  would  be  ensured,  without  risk  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  to  the  ultimate  prosperity  of  the  colony. 
Heathenism  could  not  exist  in  such  a  state  of  affairs ;  it 
would  die  out.  Minds  exalted  by  education  upon  such 
a  system  would  look  with  ridicule  upon  the  vestiges  of 
former  idolatry,  and  the  rocky  idols  would  remain  with- 
out a  worshiper,  while  a  new  generation  flocked  to  the 
Christian  altar. 

This  is  no  visionary  prospect.  It  has  been  satisfac- 
torily proved  that  the  road  to  conversion  to  Christianity 
is  through  knowledge,  and  this  once  attained,  heathen- 
ism shrinks  into  the  background.  This  knowledge  can 
only  be  gained  by  the  young  when  such  schools  are 
established  as  I  have  described. 

Our  missionaries  should  therefore  devote  their  atten- 
tion to  this  object,  and  cease  to  war  against  the  impos- 
sibility of  adult  conversion.  If  one-third  of  the 
enormous  sums  hitherto  expended  with  little  or  no 
results  upon  missionary  labor  had  been  employed  in 
the  establishments  as  proposed,  our  colonies  would 
now  possess  a  Christian  population.  But  are  our  mis- 
sionaries capable?  Here  commences  another  question, 
which  again  involves  others  in  their  turn,  all  of  which, 
when  answered,  thoroughly  explain  the  stationary,  if 
not  retrograde,  position  of  the  Protestant  Church 
among  the  heathen. 

What  is  the  reader's  conceived  opinion  of  the  duties 
and  labors  of  a  missionary  in  a  heathen  land  ?  Does 
24 


278        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

he,  or  does  he  not  imagine,  as  he  pays  his  subscription 
toward  this  object,  that  the  devoted  missionary  quits 
his  native  shores,  like  one  of  the  apostles  of  old,  to  fight 
the  good  fight?  that  he  leaves  all  to  follow  "Him?" 
and  that  he  wanders  forth  in  his  zeal  to  propagate  the 
gospel,  penetrating  into  remote  parts,  preaching  to  the 
natives,  attending  on  the  sick,  living  a  life  of  hardship 
and  self-denial  ? 

It  is  a  considerable  drawback  to  this  belief  in  mis- 
sionary labor  when  it  is  known  that  the  missionaries 
are  not  educated  for  the  particular  colonies  to  which 
they  are  sent ;  upon  arrival,  they  are  totally  ignorant  of 
the  language  of  the  natives,  accordingly,  they  are  per- 
fectly useless  for  the  purpose  of  "  propagating  the  gos- 
pel among  the  heathen."  Their  mission  should  be  that 
of  instructing  the  young,  and  for  this  purpose  they 
should  first  be  instructed  themselves. 

I  do  not  wish  to  throw  a  shade  upon  the  efforts  of 
missionary  labor ;  I  have  no  doubt  that  they  use  great 
exertions  privately,  which  the  public  on  the  spot  do 
not  observe ;  but  taking  this  for  granted  as  the  case,  the 
total  want  of  success  in  the  result  becomes  the  more 
deplorable. 

I  have  also  no  doubt  that  the  missionaries  penetrate 
into  the  most  remote  parts  of  Ceylon  and  preach  the 
gospel.  For  many  years  I  have  traversed  the  wilder- 
nesses of  Ceylon  at  all  hours  and  at  all  seasons.  I 
have  met  many  strange  things  during  my  journeys,  but 
I  never  recollect  having  met  a  missionary.  The  bishop 
of  Colombo  is  the  only  man  I  know  who  travels  out  of 
the  high  road  for  this  purpose  ;  and  he,  both  in  this  and 
many  other  respects,  offers  an  example  which  few  ap- 
pear to  follow. 


Religious  Schisms.  279 

Nevertheless,  although  Protestant  missionaries  are  so 
rare  in  the  jungles  of  the  interior,  and,  if  ever  there, 
no  vestige  ever  remains  of  such  a  visit,  still,  in  spots 
where  it  might  be  least  expected,  may  be  seen  the  hum- 
ble mud  hut,  surmounted  by  a  cross,  the  certain  trace 
of  some  persevering  priest  of  the  Roman  faith.  These 
men  display  an  untiring  zeal,  and  no  point  is  too  re- 
mote for  their  good  offices.  Probably  they  are  not  so 
comfortable  in  their  quarters  in  the  towns  as  the  Prot- 
estant missionaries,  and  thus  they  have  less  hesitation 
in  leaving  home. 

The  few  converts  that  have  been  made  are  chiefly 
Roman  Catholics,  as  among  the  confusion  arising  from 
our  multitudinous  sects  and  schisms  the  native  is  natu- 
rally bewildered.  What  with  High  "Church,  Low 
Church,  Baptists,  Wesleyans,  Presbyterians,  etc.,  etc., 
etc.,  the  ignorant  native  is  perfectly  aghast  at  the  variety 
of  choice. 

With  the  members  of  our  Church  in  such  a  dislo- 
cated state,  progression  cannot  be  expected  by  simple 
attemps  at  conversion  ;  even  were  the  natives  willing 
to  embrace  the  true  faith,  they  would  have  great  diffi- 
culty in  finding  it  amidst  the  crowd  of  adverse  opinions. 
Without  probing  more  deeply  into  these  social  wounds, 
I  must  take  leave  of  the  missionary  labors  in  Ceylon, 
trusting  that  ere  long  the  eyes  of  the  government  will 
be  fixed  upon  the  true  light  to  guide  the  prosperity  of 
the  island  by  framing  an  ordinance  for  the  liberal  edu- 
cation of  the  people. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

THE  PEARL  FISHERY — DESOLATION  OF  THE  COAST — HARBOR 
OF  TRINCOMALEE — FATAL  ATTACK  BY  A  SHARK — FERO- 
CIOUS CROCODILES — SALT  MONOPOLY SALT  LAKES — 

METHOD  OF  COLLECTION — NEGLECT  OF  CEYLON  HIDES — 
FISH  AND  FISHING — PRIMITIVE  TACKLE — OYSTER  AND 
PENKNIVES — A  NIGHT  BIVOUAC  FOR  A  NOVICE — NO 
DINNER,  BUT  A  GOOD  FIRE — WILD  YAMS  AND  CONSE- 
qiJENCES — THE  ELEPHANTS*  DUEL — A  HUNTING  HERMI- 
TAGE— BLUEBEARD'S  LAST  HUNT — THE  LEOPARD — BLUE- 
BEARD'S DEATH — LEOPARD  SHOT. 

WHILE  fresh  from  the  subject  of  government  mis- 
management, let  us  turn  our  eyes  in  the  direc- 
tion of  one  of  those  natural  resources  of  wealth  for 
which  Ceylon  has  ever  been  renowned — the  "  pearl 
fishery."  This  was  the  goose  which  laid  the  golden 
egg,  and  Sir  W.  Horton,  when  governor  of  Ceylon, 
was  the  man  who  killed  the  goose. 

Here  was  another  fatal  instance  of  the  effects  of  a 
five  years'  term  of  governorship. 

It  was  the  last,  year  of  his  term,  and  he  wished  to 
prove  to  the  Colonial  Office  that  "his  talent"  had  not 
been  laid  up  in  a  napkin,  but  that  he  had  left  the  colony 
with  an  excess  of  income  over  expenditure.  To  obtain 
this  income  he  fished  up  all  the  oysters,  ruined  the  fishery 
280 


The  Pearl  Fishery*  281 

in  consequence  ;  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  time 
it  has  been  unproductive. 

This  is  a  serious  loss  of  income  to  the  colony,  and 
great  doubts  are  entertained  as  to  the  probability  of  the 
oyster-banks  ever  recovering  their  fertility. 

Nothing  can  exceed  the  desolation  of  the  coast  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  pearl-banks.  For  many  miles  the 
shore  is  a  barren  waste  of  low  sandy  ground,  covered 
for  the  most  part  with  scrubby,  thorny  jungle,  diversi- 
fied by  glades  of  stunted  herbage.  Not  a  hill  is  to  be 
seen  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  The  tracks  of  all 
kind  of  game  abound  on  the  sandy  path,  with  occa- 
sionally those  of  a  naked  foot,  but  seldom  does  a  shoe 
imprint  its  civilized  mark  upon  these  lonely  shores. 

The  whole  of  this  district  is  one  of  the  best  in  Ceylon 
for  deer-shooting,  which  is  a  proof  of  its  want  of  in- 
habitants. This  has  always  been  the  case,  even  in  the 
prosperous  days  of  the  pearl  fishery.  So  utterly  worth- 
less is  the  soil,  that  it  remains  in  a  state  of  nature,  and 
its  distance  from  Colombo  (one  hundred  and  fifty  miles) 
keeps  it  in  entire  seclusion. 

It  is  a  difficult  to  conceive  that  any  source  of  wealth 
should  exist  in  such  a  locality.  When  standing  on  the 
parched  sand,  with  the  burning  sun  shining  in  pitiless 
might  upon  all  around,  the  meagre  grass  burnt  to  a 
mere  straw,  the  tangled  bushes  denuded  of  all  verdure 
save  a  few  shriveled  leaves,  the  very  insects  seeking 
shelter  from  the  rays,  there  is  not  a  tree  to  throw  a 
shadow,  but  a  dancing  haze  of  molten  air  hovers  upon 
the  ground,  and  the  sea  like  a  mirror  reflects  a  glare, 
which  makes  the  heat  intolerable.  And  yet  beneath 
the  wave  on  this  wild  and  desolate  spot  glitter  those 
baubles  that  minister  to  man's  vanity ;  and,  as  though 
24  * 


282        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

in  mockery  of  such  pursuits,  I  have  seen  the  bleached 
skulls  of  bygone  pearl-seekers  lying  upon  the  sand, 
where  they  have  rotted  in  view  of  the  coveted  treasures. 

There  is  an  appearance  of  ruin  connected  with  every- 
thing in  the  neighborhood.  Even  in  the  good  old  times 
this  coast  was  simply  visited  during  the  period  for  fish- 
ing. Temporary  huts  were  erected  for  thousands  of 
natives,  who  thronged  to  Ceylon  from  all  parts  of  the 
East  for  the  fascinating  speculations  of  the  pearl  fishery. 
No  sooner  was  the  season  over  than  every  individual 
disappeared ;  the  wind  swept  away  the  huts  of  sticks 
and  leaves  ;  and  the  only  vestiges  remaining  of  the  v6- 
cent  population  were  the  government  stores  and  house 
at  Arripo,  like  the  bones  of  the  carcase  after  the  vul- 
tures had  feasted  and  departed.  All  relapsed  at  once 
into  its  usual  state  of  desolation. 

The  government  house  was  at  one  time  a  building 
of  some  little  pretension,  and  from  its  style  it  bore  the 
name  of  the  "  Doric."  It  is  now,  like  everything  else, 
in  a  state  of  lamentable  decay.  The  honeycombed 
eighteen-pounder,  which  was  the  signal  gun  of  former 
years,  is  choked  with  drifting  sand,  and  the  air  of  mis- 
ery about  the  place  is  indescribable. 

Now  that  the  diving  helmet  has  rendered  subaqueous 
discoveries  so  easy,  I  am  surprised  that  a  government 
survey  has  not  been  made  of  the  whole  north-west  coast 
of  Ceylon.  It  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
pearl  oyster  should  inhabit  depths  which  excluded  the 
simple  diver  of  former  days,  and  that  our  modern  im- 
provements might  discover  treasures  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  old  pearl-beds  of  which  we  are  now  in 
ignorance.  The  best  divers,  without  doubt,  could 
never  much  exceed  a  minute  in  submersion.  I  believe 


Harbor  of  Trincomalee.  283 

the  accounts  of  their  performances  generally  to  have 
been  much  exaggerated.  At  all  events,  those  of  the 
present  day  do  not  profess  to  remain  under  water  much 
more  than  a  minute. 

The  accounts  of  Ceylon  pearl  fisheries  are  so  com- 
mon in  every  child's  book  that  I  do  not  attempt  to  de- 
scribe the  system  in  detail.  Like  all  lotteries,  there  are 
few  prizes  to  the  proportion  of  blanks. 

The  whole  of  this  coast  is  rich  in  the  biche  de  mer, 
more  commonly  called  the  sea-slug.  This  is  a  disgust- 
ing species  of  mollusca,  which  grows  to  a  large  size, 
being  commonly  about  a  foot  in  length  and  three  or 
four  inches  in  diameter.  The  capture  and  preparation 
of  these  creatures  is  confined  exclusively  to  the  Chinese, 
who  dry  them  in  the  sun  until  they  shrink  to  the  size 
of  a  large  sausage  and  harden  to  the  consistency  of 
horn ;  they  are  then  exported  to  China  for  making 
soups.  No  doubt  they  are  more  strengthening  than 
agreeable  ;  but  I  imagine  that  our  common  garden  slug 
would  be  an  excellent  substitute  to  any  one  desirous  of 
an  experiment,  as  it  exactly  resembles  its  nautical 
representative  in  color  and  appearance.  Trincomalee 
is  the  great  depot  for  this  trade,  which  is  carried  on  to 
a  large  extent,  together  with  that  of  sharks'  fins,  the 
latter  being  used  by  the  Chinese  for  the  same  purpose 
as  the  biche  de  mer.  Trincomalee  affords  many  facili- 
ties for  this  trade,  as  the  slugs  are  found  in  large 
quantities  on  the  spot,  and  the  finest  harbor  of  the  East 
is  alive  with  sharks.  Few  things  surpass  the  tropical 
beauty  of  this  harbor ;  lying  completely  land-locked,  it 
seems  like  a  glassy  lake  surrounded  by  hills  covered 
with  the  waving  foliage  of  groves  of  cocoa-nut  trees 
and  palms  of  great  variety.  The  white  bungalows, 


284        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

with  their  red-tiled  roofs,  are  dotted  about  along  the 
shore,  and  two  or  three  men-of-war  are  usually  resting 
at  their  ease  in  this  calm  retreat.  So  deep  is  the  water 
that  the  harbor  forms  a  perfect  dock,  as  the  largest 
vessel  can  lie  so  close  to  the  shore  that  her  yards  over- 
hang it,  which  enables  stores'  and  cargo  to  be  shipped 
with  great  facility. 

The  fort  stands  upon  a  projecting  point  of  land, 
which  rises  to  about  seventy  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
galle  face  (the  race-course)  which  faces  it.  Thus  it 
commands  the  land  approach  across  this  flat  plain  on 
one  side  and  the  sea  on  the  other.  This  same  fort  is 
one  of  the  hottest  corners  of  Ceylon,  and  forms  a  de- 
sirable residence  for  those  who  delight  in  a  temperature 
of  from  90°  to  104°  in  the  shade.  Bathing  is  the  great 
enjoyment,  but  the  pleasure  in  such  a  country  is 
destroyed  by  the  knowledge  that  sharks  are  looking 
out  for  you  in  the  sea,  and  crocodiles  in  the  rivers  and 
tanks ;  thus  a  man  is  nothing  more  than  an  exciting 
live-bait  when  he  once  quits  terra  firma.  Accidents 
necessarily  must  happen,  but  they  are  not  so  frequent 
as  persons  would  suppose  from  the  great  number  of 
carnivorous  monsters  that  exist.  Still,  I  am  convinced 
that  a  white  man  would  run  greater  risk  than  a  black  ; 
he  is  a  more  enticing  bait,  being  bright  and  easily  dis- 
tinguished in  the  water.  Thus  in  places  where  the 
natives  are  in  the  habit  of  bathing  with  impunity  it 
would  be  most  dangerous  for  a  white  man  to  enter. 

There  was  a  lamentable  instance  of  this  some  few 
years  ago  at  Trincomalee.  In  a  sheltered  nook  among 
the  rocks  below  the  fort,  where  the  natives  were  always 
in  the  habit  of  bathing,  a  party  of  soldiers  of  the  regi- 
ment then  in  garrison  went  down  one  sultry  afternoon 


Fatal  Attack  by  a  Shark.  285 

for  a  swim.  It  was  a  lovely  spot  for  bathing  ;  the  water 
was  blue,  clear  and  calm,  as  the  reef  that  stretched  far 
out  to  sea  served  as  a  breakwater  to  the  heavy  surf,  and 
preserved  the  inner  water  as  smooth  as  a  lake.  Here 
were  a  fine  lot  of  English  soldiers  stripped  to  bathe ; 
and  although  the  ruddy  hue  of  British  health  had  long 
since  departed  in  the  languid  climate  of  the  East,  never- 
theless their  spirits  were  as  high  as  those  of  English- 
men usually  are,  no  matter  where  or  under  what  cir- 
cumstances. However,  one  after  the  other  took  a  run, 
and  then  a  "  header"  off  the  rocks  into  the  deep  blue 
water  beneath.  In  the  long  line  of  bathers  was  a  fine 
lad  of  fifteen,  the  son  of  one  of  the  sergeants  of  the 
regiment ;  and  with  the  emulation  of  his  age  he  ranked 
himself  among  the  men,  and  on  arriving  at  the  edge  he 
plunged  head-foremost  into  the  water  and  disappeared. 
A  crowd  of  men  were  on  the  margin  watching  the 
bathing ;  the  boy  rose  to  the  surface  within  a  few  feet 
of  them,  but  as  he  shook  the  water  from  his  hair,  a 
cloudy  shadow  seemed  to  rise  from  the  deep  beneath 
him,  and  in  another  moment  the  distinct  outline  of  a 
large  shark  was  visible  as  his  white  belly  flashed  below. 
At  the  same  instant  there  was  a  scream  of  despair ;  the 
water  was  crimsoned,  and  a  bloody  foam  rose  to  the 
surface — the  boy  was  gone  !  Before  the  first  shock  of 
horror  was  well  felt  by  those  around,  a  gallant  fellow 
of  the  same  regiment  shot  head  first  into  the  bloody 
spot,  and  presently  reappeared  from  his  devoted 
plunge,  bearing  in  his  arms  one-half  of  the  poor  boy. 
The  body  was  bitten  off  at  the  waist,  and  the  lower 
portion  was  the  prize  of  the  ground  shark. 

For  several  days  the  soldiers  were  busily  employed 
in  fishing  for  this  monster,  while  the  distracted  mother 


286        Eight  Tears'  Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

sat  in  the  burning  sun,  watching  in  heart-broken  eager- 
ness, in  the  hope  of  recovering  some  trace  of  her  lost 
son.  This,  however,  was  not  to  be ;  the  shark  was 
never  seen  again. 

There  is  as  much  difference  in  the  characters  of 
sharks  as  among  other  animals  or  men.  Some  are 
timid  and  sluggish,  moving  as  though  too  lazy  to  seek 
their  food ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  such  would 
never  attack  man.  Others,  on  the  contrary,  dash 
through  the  water  as  a  pike  would  seize  its  prey,  and 
refuse  or  fear  nothing.  There  is  likewise  a  striking 
distinction  in  the  habits  of  crocodiles ;  those  that  in- 
habit rivers  being  far  more  destructive  and  fearless  than 
those  that  infest  the  tanks.  The  natives  hold  the  former 
in  great  terror,  while  with  the  latter  they  run  risks  which 
are  sometimes  fatal.  I  recollect  a  large  river  in  the 
south-east  of  Ceylon,  which  so  abounds  with  ferocious 
crocodiles  that  the  natives  would  not  enter  the  water  in 
depths  above  the  knees,  and  even  this  they  objected  to, 
unless  necessity  compelled  them  to  cross  the  river.  I  was 
encamped  on  the  banks  for  some  little  time,  and  the 
natives  took  the  trouble  to  warn  me  especially  not  to 
enter ;  and,  as  proof  of  the  danger,  they  showed  me  a 
spot  where  three  men  had  been  devoured  in  the  course 
of  one  year,  all  three  of  whom  are  supposed  to  have 
ministered  to  the  appetite  of  the  same  crocodile. 

Few  reptiles  are  more  disgusting  in  appearance  than 
these  brutes  ;  but,  nevertheless,  their  utility  counterbal- 
ances their  bad  qualities,  as  they  cleanse  the  water  from 
all  impurities.  So  numerous  are  they  that  their  heads 
may  be  seen  in  fives  and  tens  together,  floating  at  the 
top  of  the  water  like  rough  corks ;  and  at  about  five 
p.  M.  they  bask  on  the  shore  close  to  the  margin  of  the 


Crocodiles.  287 

water,  ready  to  scuttle  in  on  the  shortest  notice.  They 
are  then  particularly  on  the  alert,  and  it  is  a  most  diffi- 
cult thing  to  stalk  them,  so  as  to  get  near  enough  to 
make  a  certain  shot.  This  is  not  bad  amusement  when 
no  other  sport  can  be  had.  Around  the  margin  of  a 
lake,  in  a  large  plain  far  in  the  distance,  may  be  seen  a 
distinct  line  upon  the  short  grass  like  the  fallen  trunk 
of  a  tree.  As  there  are  no  trees  at  hand,  this  must 
necessarily  be  a  crocodile.  Seldom  can  the  best  hand 
at  stalking  then  get  within  eighty  yards  of  him  before 
he  lifts  his  scaly  head,  and,  listening  for  a  second, 
plunges  off  the  bank. 

I  have  been  contradicted  in  stating  that  a  ball  will 
penetrate  their  scales.  It  is  absurd,  however,  to  hold 
the  opinion  that  the  scales  will  turn  a  ball — that  is  to 
say,  stop  the  ball  (as  we  know  that  a  common  twig 
will  of  course  turn  it  from  its  direction,  if  struck 
obliquely). 

The  scales  of  a  crocodile  are  formed  of  bone  exquis- 
itely jointed  together  like  the  sections  of  a  skull ;  these 
are  covered  externally  with  a  horny  skin,  forming,  no 
doubt,  an  excellent  defensive  armor,  about  an  inch  in 
thickness  ;  but  the  idea  of  their  being  impenetrable  to 
a  ball,  if  struck  fair,  is  a  great  fallacy.  People  may 
perhaps  complain  because  a  pea  rifle  with  a  mere  pinch 
of  powder  may  be  inefficient,  but  a  common  No.  16 
fowling-piece,  with  two  drachms  of  powder,  will  pene- 
trate any  crocodile  that  was  ever  hatched. 

Among  the  most  harmless  kinds  are  those  which 
inhabit  the  salt  lakes  in  the  south  of  Ceylon.  I  have 
never  heard  of  an  accident  in  these  places,  although 
hundreds  of  persons  are  employed  annually  in  collect- 
ing salt  from  the  bottom. 


288        Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

These  natural  reservoirs  are  of  great  extent,  some  of 
them  being  many  miles  in  circumference.  Those  most 
productive  are  about  four  miles  round,  and  yield  a  sup- 
ply in  August,  during  the  height  of  the  dry  season. 

Salt  in  Ceylon  is  a  government  monoply ;  and  it  has 
hitherto  been  the  narrow  policy  of  the  government  to 
keep  up  an  immense  price  upon  this  necessary  of  life, 
when  the  resources  of  the  country  could  produce  any 
amount  required  for  the  island  consumption.' 

These  are  now  all  but  neglected,  and  the  government 
simply  gathers  the  salt  as  the  wild  pig  feeds  upon  the 
fruit  which  falls  from  the  tree  in  its  season. 

The  government  price  of  salt  is  now  about  three 
shillings  per  bushel.  This  is  very  impure,  being  mixed 
with  much  dirt  and  sand.  The  revenue  obtained  by 
the  salt  monopoly  is  about  forty  thousand  pounds  per 
annum,  two-thirds  of  which  is  an  unfair  burden  upon 
the  population,  as  the  price,  according  to  the  supply 
obtainable,  should  never  exceed  one  shilling  per  bushel. 

Let  us  consider  the  capabilities  of  the  locality  from 
which  it  is  collected. 

The  lakes  are  some  five  or  six  in  number,  situated 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  sea,  separated  only  by  a  high 
bank  of  drift  sand,  covered  for  the  most  part  with  the 
low  jungle  which  clothes  the  surrounding  country. 
Flat  plains  of  a  sandy  nature  form  the  margins  of  the 
lakes.  The  little  town  of  Hambantotte,  with  a  good 
harbor  for  small  craft,  is  about  twenty  miles  distant,  to 
which  there  is  a  good  cart  road. 

The  water  of  these  lakes  is  a  perfect  brine.  In  the 
dry  season  the  evaporation,  of  course,  increases  the 
strength  until  the  water  can  no  longer  retain  the  amount 
of  salt  in  solution  ;  it  therefore  precipitates  and  crystal- 


Salt  Lakes.  289 

lizes  at  the  bottom  in  various  degrees  of  thickness,  ac- 
cording to  the  strength  of  the  brine. 

Thus,  as  the  water  recedes  from  the  banks  by  evapo- 
ration and  the  lake  decreases  in  size,  it  leaves  a  beach, 
not  of  shingles,  but  of  pure  salt  in  crystallized  cubes  to 
the  depth  of  several  inches,  and  sometimes  to  half  a 
foot  or  more.  The  bottom  of  the  lake  is  equally  coated 
with  this  thick  deposit. 

These  lakes  are  protected  by  watchers,  who  live 
upon  the  margin  throughout  the  year.  Were  it  not 
for  this  precaution,  immense  quantities  of  salt  would  be 
stolen.  In  the  month  of  August  the  weather  is  gen- 
erally most  favorable  for  the  collection,  at  which  time 
the  assistant  agent  for  the  district  usually  gives  a  few 
days'  superintendence. 

The  salt  upon  the  shore  being  first  collected,  the  na- 
tives wade  into  the  lake  and  gather  the  deposit  from 
the  bottom,  which  they  bring  to  the  shore  in  baskets ; 
it  is  then  made  up  into  vast  piles,  which  are  subse- 
quently thatched  over  with  cajans  (the  plaited  leaf  of 
the  cocoa-nut).  In  this  state  it  remains  until  an  op- 
portunity offers  for  carting  it  to  the  government  salt- 
stores. 

This  must  strike  the  reader  as  being  a  rude  method 
of  collecting  what  Nature  so  liberally  produces.  The 
waste  is  necessarily  enormous,  as  the  natives  cannot 
gather  the  salt  at  a  greater  depth  than  three  feet; 
hence  the  greater  proportion  of  the  annual  produce  of 
the  lake  remains  ungathered.  The  supply  at  present 
afforded  might  be  trebled  with  very  little  trouble  or 
expense. 

If  a  stick  is  inserted  in  the  mud,  so  that  one  end 
stands  above  water,  the  salt  crystallizes  upon  it  in  a 
25  T 


290       Eight  Years'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

large  lump  of  several  pounds'  weight.  This  is  of  a 
better  quality  than  that  which  is  gathered  from  the  bot- 
tom, being  free  from  sand  or  other  impurities.  Innu- 
merable samples  of  this  may  be  seen  upon  the  stakes 
which  the  natives  have  stuck  in  the  bottom  to  mark  the 
line  of  their  day's  work.  These,  not  being  removed, 
amass  a  collection  of  salt  as  described. 

Were  the  government  anxious  to  increase  the  pro- 
duce of  these  natural  reservoirs,  nothing  could  be  more 
simple  than  to  plant  the  whole  lake  with  rows  of  stakes. 
The  wood  is  on  the  spot,  and  the  rate  of  labor  sixpence 
a  day  per  man  ;  thus  it  might  be  accomplished  for  a 
comparatively  small  amount. 

This  would  not  only  increase  the  produce  to  an  im- 
mense degree,  but  it  would  also  improve  the  purity  of 
the  collection,  and  would  render  facilities  for  gathering 
the  crop  by  means  of  boats,  and  thus  obviate  the  neces- 
sity of  entering  the  water ;  at  present  the  suffering 
caused  by  the  latter  process  is  a  great  drawback  to  the 
supply  of  labor.  So  powerful  is  the  brine  that  the  legs 
and  feet  become  excoriated  after  two  or  three  days'  em- 
ployment, and  the  natives  have  accordingly  a  great 
aversion  to  the  occupation. 

Nothing  could  be  easier  than  gathering  the  crop  by 
the  method  proposed.  Boats  would  paddle  along  be- 
tween the  rows  of  stakes,  while  each  stick  would  be 
pulled  up  and  the  salt  disengaged  by  a  single  blow ; 
the  stick  would  then  be  replaced  in  its  position  until 
the  following  season. 

Nevertheless,  although  so  many  specimens  exist  of 
this  accumulation,  the  method  which  was  adopted  by 
the  savage  is  still  followed  by  the  soi-disant  civilized 
man. 


Method  of  Collection — Demand.  291 

In  former  days,  when  millions  occupied  Ceylon,  the 
demand  for  salt  must  doubtless  have  been  in  proportion, 
and  the  lakes  which  are  now  so  neglected  must  have 
been  taxed  to  their  utmost  resources.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  barbarians  of  those  times  had  some 
more  civilized  method  of  increasing  the  production  than 
the  enlightened  race  of  the  present  day. 

The  productive  salt  lakes  are  confined  entirely  to  the 
south  of  Ceylon.  Lakes  and  estuaries  of  sea-water 
abound  all  round  the  island,  but  these  are  only  com- 
monly salt,  and  do  not  yield.  The  north  and  the  east 
coasts  are  therefore  supplied  by  artificial  salt-pans. 
These  are  simple  enclosed  levels  on  the  beach,  into 
which  the  sea-water  is  admitted,  and  then  allowed  to 
evaporate  by  the  heat  of  the  sun.  The  salt  of  course 
remains  at  the  bottom.  More  water  is  then  admitted, 
and  again  evaporated  ;  and  this  process  continues  until 
the  thickness  of  the  salt  at  the  bottom  allows  of  its 
being  collected. 

This  simple  plan  might  be  adopted  with  great  success 
with  the  powerful  brine  of  the  salt  lakes,  which  might 
be  pumped  from  its  present  lower  level  into  dry  reser- 
voirs for  evaporation. 

The  policy  of  the  government,  however,  does  not 
tend  to  the  increase  of  any  production.  It  is  preferred 
to  keep  up  the  high  rate  of  salt  by  a  limited  supply, 
which  meets  with  immediate  demand,  rather  than  to 
increase  the  supply  for  the  public  benefit  at  a  reduced 
rate.  This  is  a  mistaken  mode  of  reasoning.  At  the 
present  high  price  the  consumption  of  salt  is  extremely 
small,  as  its  use  is  restricted  to  absolute  necessaries. 
On  the  other  hand,  were  the  supply  increased  at  one 
half  the  present  rate,  the  consumption  would  augment 


292        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

in  a  far  greater  proportion,  as  salt  would  then  be  used 
for  a  variety  of  purposes  which  at  the  present  cost  is 
impossible,  viz.  for  the  purpose  of  cattle-feeding,  man- 
ures, etc.,  etc.  In  addition  to  this,  it  would  vastly  af- 
fect the  price  of  salt  fish  (the  staple  article  of  native 
consumption),  and  by  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  this 
commodity  there  would  be  a  corresponding  extension 
in  the  trade. 

The  hundreds  of  thousands  of  hides  which  are  now 
thrown  aside  to  rot  uncared  for  would  then  be  preserved 
and  exported,  which  at  the  present  rate  of  salt  is  im- 
possible. The  skins  of  buffaloes,  oxen,  deer,  swine, 
all  valuable  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  in  Ceylon  are 
valueless'.  The  wild  buffalo  is  not  even  skinned  when 
shot ;  he  is  simply  opened  for  his  marrow-bones,  his 
tail  is  cut  off  for  soup,  his  brains  taken  out  for  cotelettes, 
and  his  tongue  salted.  The  beast  himself,  hide  and  all, 
is  left  as  food  for  the  jackal.  The  wandering  native 
picks  up  his  horns,  which  find  their  way  to  the  English 
market ;  but  the  "  hide,"  the  only  really  valuable  por- 
tion, is  neglected. 

Within  a  short  distance  of  the  salt  lakes,  buffaloes, 
boars,  and  in  fact  all  kind  of  animals  abound,  and  I  have 
no  doubt  that  if  it  were  once  proved  to  the  natives  that 
the  hides  could  be  made  remunerative,  they  would  soon 
learn  the  method  of  preparation. 

Some  persons  have  an  idea  that  a  native  will  not  take 
the  trouble  to  do  anything  that  would  turn  a  penny ;  in 
this  I  do  not  agree.  Certainly  a  native  has  not  sufficient 
courage  for  a  speculation  which  involves  the  risk  of 
loss ;  but  provided  he  is  safe  in  that  respect,  he  will 
take  unbounded  trouble  for  his  own  benefit,  not  valuing 
his  time  or  labor  in  pursuit  of  his  object. 


Commercial  Value  of  the  Elephant.         293 

I  have  noticed  a  great  change  in  the  native  habits 
along  the  southern  coast,  which  exemplifies  this,  since 
the  steamers  have  touched  regularly  at  Galle. 

Some  years  ago,  elephants,  buffaloes,  etc.,  when  shot 
by  sportsmen,  remained  untouched  except  by  the  wild 
beast ;  but  now  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of 
Galle  every  buffalo  horn  is  collected,  and  even  the  ele- 
phants' grinders  are  extracted  from  the  skulls,  and 
brought  into  market. 

An  elephant's  grinder  averages  seven  pounds  in 
weight,  and  is  not  worth  more  than  from  a  penny  to 
three  half-pence  a  pound  ;  nevertheless  they  are  now 
brought  to  Galle  in  large  quantities  to  be  made  into 
knife-handles  and  sundry  ornaments,  to  tempt  the  pas- 
sengers of  the  various  steamers.  If  the  native  takes 
this  trouble  for  so  small  a  recompense,  there  is  every 
reason  to  suppose  that  the  hides  now  wasted  would  be 
brought  into  market  and  form  a  valuable  export,  were 
salt  at  such  a  rate  as  would  admit  of  their  preparation. 

The  whole  of  the  southern  coast,  especially  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  salt  lakes,  abounds  with  fish. 
These  are  at  present  nearly  undisturbed  ;  but  I  have 
little  doubt  that  a  reduction  in  the  price  of  salt  would 
soon  call  forth  the  energies  of  the  Moormen,  who  would 
establish  fisheries  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 
This  would  be  of  great  importance  to  the  interior  of 
the  country,  as  a  road  has  been  made  within  the  last 
few  years  direct  from  this  locality  to  Badulla,  distant 
about  eighty  miles,  and  situated  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  most  populous  district  of  Ceylon.  This  road,  which 
forms  a  direct  line  of  communication  from  the  port  of 
Hambantotte  to  Newera  Ellia,  is  now  much  used  for 
the  transport  of  coffee  from  the  Badulla  estates,  to 
25* 


794        Eight  Tears1   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

which  a  cheap  supply  of  salt  and  fish  would  be  a  great 
desideratum. 

The  native  is  a  clever  fellow  at  fishing.  Every  little 
boy  of  ten  years  old  along  the  coast  is  an  adept  in 
throwing  the  casting  net ;  and  I  have  often  watched 
with  amusement  the  scientific  manner  in  which  some 
of  these  little  fellows  handle  a  fine  fish  on  a  single 
line  ;  Isaak  Walton  would  have  been  proud  of  such 
pupils. 

There  is  nothing  like  necessity  for  sharpening  a 
man's  intellect,  and  the  natives  of  the  coast  being  a 
class  of  ichthyophagi,  it  may  be  imagined  that  they 
excel  in  all  the  methods  of  capturing  their  favorite 
food. 

The  sea,  the  rivers,  and  in  fact  every  pool,  teem  with 
fish  of  excellent  quality,  from  the  smallest  to  the  largest 
kind,  not  forgetting  the  most  delicious  prawns  and 
crabs.  Turtle  likewise  abound,  and  are  to  be  caught 
in  great  numbers  in  their  season. 

Notwithstanding  the  immense  amount  of  fish  in  the 
various  rivers,  there  is  no  idea  of  fishing  as  a  sport 
among  the  European  population  of  Ceylon.  This  I 
cannot  account  for,  unless  from  the  fear  of  fever,  which 
might  be  caught  with  more  certainty  than  fish  by 
standing  up  to  the  knees  in  water  under  a  burning  sun. 
Nevertheless,  I  have  indulged  in  this  every  now  and 
then,  when  out  on  a  jungle  trip,  although  I  have  never 
started  from  home  with  such  an  intention.  Seeing 
some  fine  big  fellows  swimming  about  in  a  deep  hole 
is  a  great  temptation,  especially  when  you  know  they 
are  gray  mullet,  and  the  chef  de  cuisine  is  short  of  the 
wherewithal  for  dinner. 

This  is  not  unfrequently  the  case  during  a  jungle 


Primitive   Tackle.  295 

trip ;  and  the  tent  being  pitched  in  the  shade  of  a  noble 
forest  on  the  steep  banks  of  a  broad  river,  thoughts  of 
fishing  naturally  intrude  themselves. 

The  rivers  in  the  dry  season  are  so  exhausted  that  a 
simple  bed  of  broad  dry  sand  remains,  while  a  small 
stream  winds  along  the  bottom,  merely  a  few  inches 
deep,  now  no  more  than  a  few  feet  in  width,  now  rip- 
pling over  a  few  opposing  rocks,  while  the  natural  bed 
extends  its  dry  sand  for  many  yards  on  either  side.  At 
every  bend  in  the  river  there  is  of  course  a  deep  hole 
close  to  the  bank ;  these  holes  remain  full  of  water,  as 
the  little  stream  continues  to  flow  through  them  ;  and 
the  water,  in  its  entrance  and  exit  being  too  shallow  for 
a  large  fish,  all  the  finny  monsters  of  the  river  are  com- 
pelled to  imprison  themselves  in  the  depths  of  these 
holes.  Here  the  crocodiles  have  fine  feeding,  as  they 
live  in  the  same  place. 

With  a  good  rod  and  tackle  there  would  be  capital 
sport  in  these  places,  as  some  of  the  fish  run  ten  and 
twelve  pounds  weight ;  but  I  have  never  been  well  pro- 
vided, and,  while  staring  at  the  coveted  fish  from  the 
bank,  I  have  had  no  means  of  catching  them,  except 
by  the  most  primitive  methods. 

Then  I  have  cut  a  stick  for  a  rod,  and  made  a  line 
with  some  hairs  from  my  horse's  tail,  with  a  pin  for  a 
hook,  baited  with  a  shrimp,  and  the  fishing  has  com- 
menced. 

Fish  and  fruit  are  the  most  enjoyable  articles  of  food 
in  a  tropical  country,  and  in  the  former  Ceylon  is  rich. 
The  seir  fish  is  little  inferior  to  salmon,  and  were  the 
flesh  a  similar  color,  it  might  sometimes  form  a  substi- 
tute. Soles  and  whiting  remind  us  of  Old  England, 
but  a  host  of  bright  red,  blue,  green,  yellow,  and  extra- 


296        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

ordinary-looking  creatures  in  the  same  net  dispel  all 
ideas  of  English  fishing. 

Oysters  there  are  likewise  in  Ceylon  ;  but  here,  alas ! 
there  is  a  sad  falling  off  in  the  comparison  with  our 
well-remembered  "  native."  Instead  of  the  neat  little 
shell  of  the  English  oyster,  the  Ceylon  species  is  a 
shapeless,  twisted,  knotty,  rocky-looking  creature,  such 
as  a  legitimate  oyster  would  be  in  a  fit  of  spasms  or 
convulsions.  In  fact,  there  is  no  vestige  of  the  true 
breed  about  it,  and  the  want  of  flavor  equals  its  miser- 
able exterior. 

There  are  few  positions  more  tantalizing  to  a  hungry 
man  than  that  of  being  surrounded  by  oysters  without 
a  knife.  It  is  an  obstinate  and  perverse  wretch  that 
will  not  accommodate  itself  to  man's  appetite,  and  it 
requires  a  forcible  attack  to  vanquish  it ;  so  that  every 
oyster  eaten  is  an  individual  murder,  in  which  the  cold 
steel  has  been  plunged  into  its  vitals,  and  the  animal 
finds  itself  swallowed  before  it  has  quite  made  up  its 
mind  that  it  has  been  opened.  But  take  away  the 
knife,  and  see  how  vain  is  the  attempt  to  force  the 
stronghold.  How  utterly  useless  is  the  oyster !  You 
may  turn  it  over  and  over,  and  look  for  a  weak  place, 
but  there  is  no  admittance ;  you  may  knock  it  with  a 
stone,  but  the  knock  will  be  unanswered.  How  would 
you  open  such  a  creature  without  a  knife? 

This  was  one  of  the  many  things  that  had  never 
occurred  to  me  until  one  day  when  I  found  myself 
with  some  three  or  four  friends  and  a  few  boatmen  on 
a  little  island,  or  rather  a  rock,  about  a  mile  from  the 
shore.  This  rock  was  rich  in  the  spasmodic  kind  of 
oyster,  large  detached  masses  of  which  lay  just  beneath 
the  water  in  lumps  of  some  hundredweight  each,  which 


Oysters  and  Penknives.  297 

had  been  formed  by  the  oysters  clustering  and  adhering 
together.  It  so  happened  that  our  party  were  unani- 
mous in  the  love  of  these  creatures,  and  we  accordingly 
exerted  ourselves  to  roll  out  of  the  water  a  large  mass  ; 
which  having  accomplished,  we  discovered  to  our  dis- 
may that  nothing  but  one  penknife  was  possessed 
among  us.  This  we  knew  was  a  useless  weapon 
against  such  armor ;  however,  in  our  endeavors  to  per- 
form impossibilities,  we  tickled  the  oyster  and  broke 
the  knife.  After  gazing  for  some  time  in  blank  despair 
at  our  useless  prize,  a  bright  thought  struck  one  of  the 
party,  and  drawing  his  ramrod  he  began  to  screw  it 
into  the  weakest  part  of  an  oyster ;  this,  however,  was 
proof,  and  the  ramrod  broke. 

Stupid  enough  it  may  appear,  but  it  was  full  a  quarter 
of  an  hour  before  any  of  us  thought  of  a  successful  plan 
of  attack.  I  noticed  a  lot  of  drift  timber  scattered  upon 
the  island,  and  then  the  right  idea  was  hit.  We  gath- 
ered the  wood,  which  was  bleached  and  dry,  and  we 
piled  it  a  few  feet  to  windward  of  the  mass  of  oysters. 
Striking  a  light  with  a  cap  and  some  powder,  we  lit 
the  pile.  It  blazed  and  the  wind  blew  the  heat  strong 
upon  the  oysters,  which  accordingly  began  to  squeak 
and  hiss,  until  one  by  one  they  gave  up  the  ghost,  and, 
opening  their  shells,  exposed  their  delightfully  roasted 
bodies,  which  were  eaten  forthwith. 

How  very  absurd  and  uninteresting  this  is !  but 
nevertheless  it  is  one  of  those  trifling  incidents  which 
sharpen  the  imagination  when  you  depend  upon  your 
own  resources. 

It  is  astonishing  how  perfectly  helpless  some  people 
are  if  taken  from  the  artificial  existence  of  every-day 
life  and  thrown  entirely  upon  themselves.  One  man 


•298        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

would  be  in  superlative  misery  while  another  would 
enjoy  the  responsibility,  and  delight  in  the  fertility  of 
his  own  invention  in  accommodating  himself  to  circum- 
stances. A  person  can  scarcely  credit  the  unfortunate 
number  of  articles  necessary  for  his  daily  and  nightly 
comfort,  until  he  is  deprived  of  them.  To  realize  this, 
lose  yourself,  good  reader,  wander  off  a  great  distance 
from  everywhere,  and  be  benighted  in  a  wild  country, 
with  nothing  but  your  rifle  and  hunting-knife.  You 
will  then  find  yourself  dinnerless,  supperless,  houseless, 
comfortless,  sleepless,  cold  and  miserable,  if  you  do  not 
know  how  to  manage  for  yourself.  You  will  miss 
your  dinner  sadly  if  you  are  not  accustomed  to  fast  for 
twenty-four  hours.  You  will  also  miss  your  bed  de- 
cidedly, and  your  toothbrush  in  the  morning;  but  if, 
on  the  other  hand,  you  are  of  the  right  stamp,  it  is  as- 
tonishing how  lightly  these  little  troubles  will  sit  on 
you,  and  how  comfortable  you  will  make  yourself  under 
the  circumstances. 

The  first  thing  you  will  consider  is  the  house.  The 
architectural  style  will  of  course  depend  upon  the  local- 
ity. If  the  ground  is  rocky  and  hilly,  be  sure  to  make 
a  steep  pitch  in  the  bank  or  the  side  of  a  rock  form  a 
wall,  to  leewai'd  of  which  you  will  lie  when  your  man- 
sion is  completed  by  a  few  sticks  simply  inclined  from 
the  rock  and  covered  with  grass.  If  the  country  is  flat, 
you  must  cut  four  forked  sticks,  and  erect  a  villa  after 
this  fashion  in  skeleton-work,  which  you  then  cover 
with  grass. 

You  will  then  strew  the  floor  with  grass  or  small 
boughs,  in  lieu  of  a  feather  bed,  and  you  will  tie  up  a 
bundle  of  the  same  material  into  a  sheaf,  which  will 


A  Night  Bivouac  for  a  Novice.  299 

form  a  capital  pillow.     If  grass  and  sticks  are  at  hand, 
this  will  be  completed  thus  far  in  an  hour. 


Then  comes  the  operation  of  fire-making,  which  is 
by  no  means  easy  ;  and  as  warmth  comes  next  to  food, 
and  a  blaze  both  scares  wild  animals  and  looks  cheer- 
ful, I  advise  some  attention  to  be  paid  to  the  fire. 
There  must  be  a  good  collection  of  old  fallen  logs,  if 
possible,  together  with  some  green  wood  to  prevent 
too  rapid  a  consumption  of  fuel.  But  the  fire  is  not 
yet  made. 

First  tear  off  a  bit  of  your  shirt  and  rub  it  with 
moistened  gunpowder.  Wind  this  in  a  thick  roll  round 
your  ramrod  just  below  the  point  of  the  screw,  with  the 
rough  torn  edge  uppermost.  Into  these  numerous  folds 
sprinkle  a  pinch  of  gunpowder ;  then  put  a  cap  on  the 
point  of  the  screw,  and  a  slight  tap  with  your  hunting- 
knife  explodes  it  and  ignites  the  linen. 

Now,  fire  in  its  birth  requires  nursing  like  a  young 
baby,  or  it  will  leave  you  in  the  lurch.  A  single  spark 
will  perhaps  burn  your  haystacks,  but  when  you  want 
a  fire  it  seldom  will  burn,  out  of  sheer  obstinacy ; 
therefore,  take  a  wisp  of  dry  grass,  into  which  push 
the  burning  linen  and  give  it  a  rapid,  circular  motion 
through  the  air,  which  will  generally  set  it  in  a  blaze. 


300        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Then  pile  gently  upon  it  the  smallest  and  driest  sticks, 
increasing  their  size  as  the  fire  grows  till  it  is  all  right ; 
and  you  will  sit  down  proudly  before  your  own  fire, 
thoroughly  confident  that  you  are  the  first  person  that 
ever  made  one  properly. 

There  is  some  comfort  in  that ;  and  having  manufac- 
tured your  own  house  and  bed,  you  will  lie  down  snugly 
and  think  of  dinner  till  you  fall  asleep,  and  the  crowing 
of  the  jungle-cocks  will  wake  you  in  the  morning. 

The  happiest  hours  of  my  life  have  been  passed  in 
this  rural  solitude.  I  have  started  from  home  with 
nothing  but  a  couple  of  blankets  and  the  hounds,  and, 
with  one  blanket  wrapped  round  me  I  have  slept  be- 
neath a  capital  tent  formed  of  the  other  With  two 
forked  sticks  and  a  horizontal  pole — the  ends  of  the 
blanket  being  secured  by  heavy  stones,  thus — 


This  is  a  more  comfortable  berth  than  it  may  appear 
at  first  sight,  especially  if  one  end  is  stopped  up  with 
boughs.  The  ridge-pole  being  only  two  feet  and  a  half 
high,  renders  it  necessary  to  crawl  in  on  all-fours ;  but 
this  lowness  of  ceiling  has  its  advantages  in  not  catch- 
ing the  wind,  and  likewise  in  its  warmth.  A  blanket 
roof,  well  secured  and  tightly  strained,  will  keep  off 
the  heaviest  rain  for  a  much  longer  period  than  a  com- 
mon tent ;  but  in  thoroughly  wet  weather  any  woven 
roof  is  more  or  less  uncomfortable. 


Wild  Tarns  and  Consequences.  301 

I  recollect  a  certain  bivouac  in  the  Augora  patinas 
for  a  few  days'  hunting,  when  I  was  suddenly  seized 
with  a  botanical  fit  in  a  culinary  point  of  view,  and  I 
was  determined  to  make  the  jungle  subscribe  something 
toward  the  dinner.  To  my  delight,  I  discovered  some 
plants  which,  from  the  appearance  of  their  leaves,  I 
knew  were  a  species  of  wild  yam  ;  they  grew  in  a 
ravine  on  the  swampy  soil  of  a  sluggish  spring,  and 
the  ground  being  loose,  I  soon  grubbed  them  up  and 
found  a  most  satisfactory  quantity  of  yams  about  the 
size  of  large  potatoes — not  bad  things  for  dinner.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  were  soon  transferred  to  the  pot.  Elk 
steaks  and  an  Irish  stew,  the  latter  to  be  made  of  elk 
chops,  onions  and  the  prized  yams ;  this  was  the  bill 
of  fare  expected.  But,  misericordia  !  what  a  change 
came  over  the  yams  when  boiled  !  they  turned  a  beau- 
tiful slate  color,  and  looked  like  imitations  of  their 
former  selves  in  lead. 

Their  appearance  was  uncommonly  bad,  certainly. 
There  were  three  of  us  to  feed  upon  them,  viz.,  Palli- 
ser,  my  huntsman  Benton  and  myself.  No  one  wish- 
ing to  be  first,  it  was  then,  I  confess,  that  the  thought 
just  crossed  my  mind  that  Benton  should  make  the 
experiment,  but,  repenting  at  the  same  moment,  I  pun- 
ished myself  by  eating  a  very  little  one  on  the  spot. 
Benton,  who  was  blessed  with  a  huge  appetite,  picked 
out  a  big  one.  Greedy  fellow,  to  choose  the  largest  ? 
but,  n'importe,  it  brought  its  punishment. 

Palliser  and  I  having  eaten  carefully,  were  just  be- 
ginning to  feel  uncomfortable,  when  up  jumped  Ben- 
ton,  holding  his  throat  with  both  hands,  crying,  "  My 
throat's  full  of  pins.  I'm  choked." 

"  We  are  poisoned,  no  doubt  of  it,"  said  Palliser,  in 
26 


302        EigJit  dears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

his  turn.  "I  am  choking  likewise."  "So  am  I.' 
There  we  wei-e  all  three,  with  our  throats  in  an  extraor- 
dinary state  of  sudden  contraction  and  inflammation, 
with  a  burning  and  pricking  sensation,  in  addition  to  a 
feeling  of  swelling  and  stoppage  of  the  windpipe. 
Having  nothing  but  brandy  at  hand,  we  dosed  largely 
instanter,  and  in  the  course  of  ten  minutes  we  found 
relief;  but  Benton,  having  eaten  his  large  yam,  was 
the  last  to  recover. 

There  must  have  been  highly  poisonous  qualities  in 
this  root,  as  the  quantity  eaten  was  nothing  in  propor- 
tion to  the  effects  produced.  It  is  well  known  that 
many  roots  are  poisonous  when  raw  (especially  the 
manioc),  which  become  harmless  when  cooked,  as  the 
noxious  properties  consist  of  a  very  volatile  oil,  which 
is  thrown  off  during  the  process  of  boiling.  These 
wild  yams  must  necessarily  be  still  worse  in  their  raw 
state ;  and  it  struck  me,  after  their  effects  became 
known,  that  I  had  never  seen  them  grubbed  up  by  the 
wild  hogs ;  this  neglect  being  a  sure  proof  of  their  un- 
fitness  for  food. 

In  these  Augora  patinas  a  curious  duel  was  lately 
fought  by  a  pair  of  wild  "bull  elephants,  both  of  whom 
were  the  rarce  a-ves  of  Ceylon,  "  tuskers."  These  two 
bulls  had  consorted  with  a  herd,  and  had  no  doubt 
quarreled  about  the  possession  of  the  females.  They 
accordingly  fought  it  out  to  the  death,  as  a  large  tusker 
was  found  recently  killed,  with  his  body  bored  in  many 
directions  by  his  adversary's  tusks,  the  ground  in  the 
vicinity  being  trodden  down  with  elephant  tracks  prov- 
ing the  obstinacy  of  the  fight. 

The  last  time  that  I  was  in  this  locality  poor  old 
Bluebeard  was  alive,  and  had  been  performing  feats  in 


Fatality — The  Totapella  Plains.  303 

elk-hunting  which  no  dog  could  surpass.  A  few  weeks 
later  and  he  ran  his  last  elk,  and  left  a  sad  blank  in  the 
pack. 

Good  and  bad  luck  generally  come  in  turn  ;  but  when 
the  latter  does  pay  a  visit,  it  falls  rather  heavily,  especi- 
ally among  the  hounds.  In  one  year  I  lost  nearly  the 
whole  pack.  Seven  died  in  one  week  from  an  attack 
upon  the  brain,  appearing  in  a  form  fortunately  un- 
known in  England.  In  the  same  year  I  lost  no  less 
than  four  of  the  best  hounds  by  leopards,  in  addition 
to  a  fearful  amount  of  casualties  from  other  causes. 

Shortly  after  the  appearance  of  the  epidemic  alluded 
to,  I  took  the  hounds  to  the  Totapella  Plains  for  a  fort- 
night, for  change  of  air,  while  their  kennel  was  purified 
and  re-whitewashed. 

In  these  Totapella  Plains  I  had  a  fixed  encampment, 
which,  being  within  nine  miles  of  my  house,  I  could 
visit  at  any  time  with  the  hounds,  without  the  slightest 
preparation.  There  was  an  immense  number  of  elk 
in  this  part  of  the  country  ;  in  fact  this  was  a  great 
drawback  to  the  hunting,  as  two  or  more  were  con- 
stantly on  foot  at  the  same  time,  which  divided  the 
hounds  and  scattered  them  in  all  directions.  This  made 
hard  work  of  the  sport,  as  this  locality  is  nothing  but  a 
series  of  ups  and  downs.  The  plains,  as  they  are 
termed,  are  composed  of  some  hundred  grassy  hills,  of 
about  a  hundred  feet  elevation  above  the  river ;  these 
rise  like  half  oranges  in  every  direction,  while  a  high 
chain  of  precipitous  mountains  walls  in  one  side  of 
the  view.  Forest-covered  hills  abound  in  the  centre 
and  around  the  skirts  of  the  plains,  while  a  deep  river 
winds  in  a  circuitous  route  between  the  grassy  hills. 

My  encampment  was  well  chosen  in  this  romantic 


304        Eight  Tears'   Wandering's  in  Ceylon. 

spot.  It  was  a  place  where  you  might  live  all  your 
life  without  seeing  a  soul  except  a  wandering  bee-hunter, 
or  a  native  sportsman  who  had  ventured  up  from  the 
low  country  to  shoot  an  elk. 

Surrounded  on  all  sides  but  one  with  steep  hills,  my 
hunting  settlement  lay  snugly  protected  from  the  wind 
in  a  little  valley.  A  small  jungle  about  a  hundred 
yards  square  grew  at  the  base  of  one  of  these  grassy 
hills,  in  which,  having  cleared  the  underwood  for  about 
forty  yards,  I  left  the  larger  trees  standing,  and  erected 
my  huts  under  their  shelter  at  the  exact  base  of  the 
knoll.  This  steep  rise  broke  off  into  an  abrupt  cliff 
about  sixty  yards  from  my  tent,  against  which  the  river 
bad-waged  constant  war,  and,  turning  in  an  endless 
vortex,  had  worn  a  deep  hole,  before  it  shot  off  in  a 
rapid  torrent  from  the  angle,  dashing  angrily  over  the 
rocky  masses  which  had  fallen  from  the  overhanging 
cliff,  and  coming  to  a  sudden  rest  in  a  broad  deep  pool 
within  twenty  yards  of  the  tent  door. 

This  was  a  delicious  spot.  Being  snugly  hidden  in 
the  jungle,  there  was  no  sign  of  my  encampment  from 
the  plain,  except  the  curling  blue  smoke  which  rose 
from  the  little  hollow.  A  plot  of  grass  of  some  two 
acres  formed  the  bottom  of  the  valley  before  my  habi- 
tation, at  the  extremity  of  which  the  river  flowed, 
backed  on  the  opposite  side  by  an  abrupt  hill  covered 
with  forest  and  jungle. 

This  being  a  chilly  part  of  Ceylon,  I  had  thatched 
the  walls  of  my  tent,  and  made  a  good  gridiron  bed- 
stead, to  keep  me  from  the  damp  ground,  by  means  of 
forked  upright  sticks,  two  horizontal  bars  and  numer- 
ous cross-pieces.  This  was  covered  with  six  inches' 
thickness  of  grass,  strapped  down  with  the  bark  of  a 


Bluebeard's  Last  Hunt.  305 

fibrous  shrub.  My  table  and  bench  were  formed  in  the 
same  manner,  being  of  course  fixtures,  but  most  sub- 
stantial. The  kitchen,  huts  for  attendants  and  kennel 
were  close  adjoining.  I  could  have  lived  there  all  my 
life  in  fine  weather.  I  wish  I  was  there  now  with  all 
my  heart.  However,  I  had  sufficient  bad  luck  on  my 
last  visit  to  have  disgusted  most  people.  Poor  Match- 
less, who  was  as  good  as  her  name  implied,  died  of 
inflammation  of  the  lungs  ;  and  I  started  one  morning  in 
very  low  spirits  at  her  loss,  hoping  to  cheer  myself  up 
by  a  good  hunt. 

It  was  not  long  before  old  Bluebeard's  opening  note 
was  heard  high  upon  the  hill-tops ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  a  portion  of  the  pack  had  found  another  elk, 
which,  taking  an  opposite  direction,  of  course  divided 
them.  Being  determined  to  stick  to  Bluebeard  to  the 
last,  I  made  straight  through  the  jungle  toward  the 
point  at  which  I  had  heard  a  portion  of  the  pack  join 
him,  intending  to  get  upon  their  track  and  follow  up. 
This  I  soon  did ;  and  after  running  for  some  time 
through  the  jungle,  which,  being  young  "  nillho,"  was 
unmistakably  crushed  by  the  elk  and  hounds,  I  came 
to  a  capital  though  newly-made  path,  as  a  single  ele- 
phant, having  been  disturbed  by  the  cry  of  the  hounds, 
had  started  off  at  full  speed ;  and  the  elk  and  hounds, 
naturally  choosing  the  easiest  route  through  the  jungle, 
had  kept  upon  his  track.  This  I  was  certain  of,  as  the 
elk's  print  sunk  deep  in  that  of  the  elephant,  whose 
dung,  lying  upon  the  spot,  was  perfectly  hot. 

I  fully  expected  that  the  hounds  would  bring  the  ele- 
phant to  bay,  which  is  never  pleasant  when  you  are 
without  a  gun  ;  however,  they  did  not,  but,  sticking  to 
their  true  game,  they  went  straight  away  toward  the 
26*  U 


306        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

chain  of  mountains  at  the  end  of  the  plain.  The  river, 
in  making  its  exit,  is  checked  by  abrupt  precipices,  and 
accordingly  makes  an  angle  and  then  descends  a  ravine 
toward  the  low  country. 

I  felt  sure,  from  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  the 
direction  of  the  run,  that  the  elk  would  come  to  bay  in 
this  ravine ;  and,  after  half  an  hour's  run,  I  was  de- 
lighted, on  arriving  on  the  hill  above,  to  hear  the  bay 
of  the  hounds  in  the  river  far  below. 

The  jungle  was  thick  and  tangled,  but  it  did  not  take 
long  to  force  my  way  down  the  steep  mountain  side, 
and  I  neared  the  spot  and  heard  the  splashing  in  the 
river,  as  the  elk,  followed  by  the  hounds,  dashed  across 
just  before  I  came  in  view.  He  had  broken  his  bay  ; 
and,  presently,  I  again  heard  the  chorus  of  voices  as  he 
once  more  came  to  a  stand  a  few  hundred  paces  down 
the  river. 

The  bamboo  was  so  thick  that  I  could  hardly  break 
my  way  through  it ;  and  I  was  crashing  along  toward 
the  spot,  when  suddenly  the  bay  ceased,  and  shortly 
after  some  of  the  hounds  came  hurrying  up  to  me 
regularly  scared.  Lena,  who  seldom  showed  a  symptom 
of  fear,  dashed  up  to  me  in  a  state  of  great  excitement, 
with  the  deep  scores  of  a  leopard's  claws  on  her  hind- 
quarters. Only  two  couple  of  the  hounds  followed  on 
the  elk's  track  ;  the  rest  were  nowhere. 

The  elk  had  doubled  back,  and  I  saw  old  Bluebeard 
leading  upon  the  scent  up  the  bank  of  the  river,  fol- 
lowed by  three  other  hounds. 

The  surest,  although  the  hardest  work,  was  to  get  on 
the  track  and  follow  up  through  the  jungle.  This  I 
accordingly  did  for  about  a  mile,  at  which  distance  I 
arrived  at  a  small  swampy  plain  in  the  centre  of  the 


Death  among  the  Dogs.  307 

jungle.  Here,  to  my  surprise,  I  saw  old  Bluebeard 
sitting  up. and  looking  faint,  covered  with  blood,  with 
no  other  dog  within  view.  The  truth  was  soon  known 
upon  examination.  No  less  than  five  holes  were  cut 
in  his  throat  by  a  leopard's  claws ;  and  by  the  violent 
manner  in  which  the  poor  dog  strained  and  choked,  I 
felt  sure  that  the  windpipe  was  injured.  There  was  no 
doubt  that  he  had  received  the  stroke  at  the  same  time 
that  Lena  was  wounded  beneath  the  rocky  mountain 
when  the  elk  was  at  bay  ;  and  nevertheless,  the  staunch 
old  dog  had  persevered  in  the  chase  till  the  difficulty  of 
breathing  brought  him  to  a  standstill.  I  bathed  the 
wounds,  but  I  knew  it  was  his  last  day,  poor  old 
fellow ! 

I  sounded  the  bugle  for  a  few  minutes,  and  having 
collected  some  of  the  scattered  pack  I  returned  to  the 
tent,  leading  the  wounded  dog,  whose  breathing  Yapidly 
became  more  difficult.  I  lost  no  time  in  fomenting 
and  poulticing  the  part,  but  the  swelling  had  com- 
menced to  such  an  extent  that  there  was  little  hope  of 
recovery. 

This  was  a  dark  day  for  the  pack.  Benton  returned 
in  the  afternoon  from  a  search  for  the  missing  hounds, 
and,  as  he  descended  the  deep  hill-side  on  approaching 
the  tent,  I  saw  that  he  and  a  native  were  carrying 
something  slung  upon  a  pole.  At  first  I  thought  it 
was  an  elk's  head,  which  the  missing  hounds  might 
have  run  to  bay,  but  on  his  arrival  the  worst  was  soon 
known. 

It  was  poor  Leopold,  one  of  my  best  dogs.  He  was 
all  but  dead,  with  hopeless  wounds  in  his  throat  and 
belly.  He  had  been  struck  by  a  leopard  within  a  few 
yards  of  Benton's  side,  and,  with  his  usual  pluck,  the 


308        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

dog  turned  upon  the  leopard  in  spite  of  his  wounds, 
when  the  cowardly  brute,  seeing  the  man,  turned  and 
fled. 

That  night  Leopold  died.  The  next  morning  Blue- 
beard was  so  bad  that  I  returned  home  with  him  slung 
in  a  litter  between  two  men.  Poor  fellow !  he  never 
lived  to  reach  his  comfortable  kennel,  but  died  in  the 
litter  within  a  mile  of  home.  \  had  him  buried  by  the 
side  of  old  Smut,  and  there  are  no  truer  dogs  on  the 
earth  than  the  two  that  there  lie  together. 

A  very  few  weeks  after  Bluebeard's  death,  however, 
I  got  a  taste  of  revenge  out  of  one  of  the  race. 

Palliser  and  I  were  out  shooting,  and  we  found  a 
single  bull  elephant  asleep  in  the  dry  bed  of  a  stream  ; 
we  were  stealing  quietly  up  to  him,  when  his  guardian 
spirit  whispered  something  in  his  ear,  and  up  he  jumped. 
However,  we  polished  him  off,  and  having  reloaded, 
we  passed  on. 

The  country  consisted  of  low,  thorny  jungle  and  small 
sandy  plains  of  short  turf,  and  we  were  just  entering 
one  of  these  open  spots  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of 
of  the  dead  elephant,  when  we  observed  a  splendid 
leopard  crouching  at  the  far  end  of  the  glade.  He  was 
about  ninety  paces  from  us,  lying  broadside  on,  with 
his  head  turned  to  the  opposite  direction,  evidently 
looking  out  for  game.  His  crest  was  bristled  up  with 
excitement,  and  he  formed  a  perfect  picture  of  beauty 
both  in  color  and  attitude. 

Halting  our  gun-bearers,  we  stalked  him  within  sixty 
yards :  he  looked  quickly  round,  and  his  large  hazel 
eyes  shone  full  upon  us,  as  the  two  rifles  made  one  re- 
port, and  his  white  belly  lay  stretched  upon  the  ground. 

They  were  both  clean  shots :  Palliser  had  aimed  at 


Leopard  Shot.  309 

his  head,  and  had  cut  off  one  ear  and  laid  the  skin  open 
at  the  back  of  the  neck.  My  ball  had  smashed  both 
shoulders,  but  life  was  not  fairly  extinct.  We  therefore 
strangled  him  with  my  necktie,  as  I  did  not  wish  to 
spoil  his  hide  by  any  further  wound.  This  was  a 
pleasing  sacrifice  to  the  "  manes"  of  old  Bluebeard. 

E.  Palliser  had  at  one  time  the  luck  to  have  a  fair 
turn  up  with  a  leopard  with  the  dogs  and  hunting- 
knife.  At  that  time  he  kept  a  pack  at  Dimboola,  about 
nine  miles  from  my  house.  Old  Bluebeard  belonged 
to  him,  and  he  had  a  fine  dog  named  "  Pirate,"  who 
was  the  heaviest  and  best  of  his  seizers. 

He  was  out  hunting  with  two  or  three  friends,  when 
suddenly  a  leopard  sprang  from  the  jungle  at  one  of 
the  smaller  hounds  as  they  were  passing  quietly  along 
a  forest  path.  Halloaing  the  pack  on  upon  the  instant, 
every  dog  gave  chase,  and  a  short  run  brought  him  to 
bay  in  the  usual  place  of  refuge,  the  boughs  of  a  tree. 

However,  it  so  happened  that  there  was  a  good  sup- 
ply of  large  sharp  stones  upon  the  soil,  and  with  these 
the  whole  party  kept  up  a  spirited  bombardment*,  until 
at  length  one  lucky  shot  hit  him  on  the  head,  and  at 
the  same  moment  he  fell  or  jumped  into  the  middle  of 
the  pack.  Here  Pirate  came  to  the  front  in  grand 
style  and  collared  him,  while  the  whole  pack  backed 
him  up  without  an  exception. 

There  was  a  glorious  struggle  of  course,  which  was 
terminated  by  the  long  arm  of  our  friend  Palliser,  who 
slipped  the  hunting-knife  into  him  and  became  a  win- 
ner. This  is  the  only  instance  that  I  know  of  a  leop- 
ard being  run  into  and  killed  with  hounds  and  a  knife. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

WILD   DENIZENS   OF   FOREST  AND  LAKE — DESTROYERS  OF  REP- 
TILES— THE    TREE     DUCK THE     MYSTERIES     OF    NIGHT    IN 

THE  FOREST — THE  DEVIL-BIRD — THE  IGUANODON  IN  MIN- 
IATURE— OUTRIGGER  CANOES — THE  LAST  GLIMPSE  OF 
CEYLON — A  GLANCE  AT  OLD  TIMES. 

ONE  of  the  most  interesting  objects  to  a  tourist  in 
Ceylon  is  a  secluded  lake  or  tank  in  those  jungle 
districts  which  are  seldom  disturbed  by  the  white  man. 
There  is  something  peculiarly  striking  in  the  wonderful 
number  of  living  creatures  which  exist  upon  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  water.  Birds  of  infinite  variety  and 
countless  numbers — fish  in  myriads — reptiles  and  croco- 
diles— animals  that  feed  upon  the  luxuriant  vegetation 
of  the  shores — insects  which  sparkle  in  the  sunshine  in 
every  gaudy  hue  ;  all  these  congregate  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  these  remote  solitudes,  and  people  the  lakes 
with  an  incalculable  host  of  living  beings. 

In  such  a  scene  there  is  scope  for  much  delightful 
study  of  the  habits  and  natures  of  wild  animals,  where 
they  can  be  seen  enjoying  their  freedom  unrestrained 
by  the  fear  of  man. 

Often  have  I  passed  a  quiet  hour  on  a  calm  evening 
when  the  sun  has  sunk  low  on  the  horizon,  and  the 
cool  breeze  has  stolen  across  the  water,  refreshing  all 

310 


Wild  Denizens  pf  Forest  and  Lake,        311 

animal  life.  Here,  concealed  beneath  the  shade  of 
some  large  tree.,  I  have  watched  the  masses  of  living 
things  quite  unconscious  of  such  scrutiny.  In  one  spot 
the  tiny  squirrel  nibbling  the  buds  on  a  giant  limb  of 
the  tree  above  me,  while  on  the  opposite  shore  a  ma- 
jestic bull  elephant  has  commenced  his  evening  bath, 
showering  the  water  above  his  head  and  trumpeting 
his  loud  call  to  the  distant  herd.  Far  away  in  the 
dense  jungles  the  ringing  sound  is  heard,  as  the  answer- 
ing females  return  the  salute  and  slowly  approach  the 
place  of  rendezvous.  One  by  one  their  dark  forms 
emerge  from  the  thorny  coverts  and  loom  large  upon 
the  green  but  distant  shores,  and  they  increase  their 
pace  when  they  view  the  coveted  water,  and  belly-deep 
enjoy  their  evening  draught. 

The  graceful  axis  in  dense  herds  quit  the  screening 
jungle  and  also  seek  the  plain.  The  short,  shrill  barks 
of  answering  bucks  sound  clearly  across  the  surface  of 
the  lake,  and  indistinct  specks  begin  to  appear  on  the 
edge  of  the  more  distant  forests.  Now  black  patches 
are  dotted  about  the  plain  ;  now  larger  objects,  some 
single  and  some  in  herds,  make  toward  the  water.  The 
telescope  distinguishes  the  vast  herds  of  hogs  busy  in 
upturning  the  soil  in  search  of  roots,  and  the  ungainly 
buffaloes,  some  in  herds  and  others  single  bulls,  all 
gathering  at  the  hour  of  sunset  toward  the  water. 
Peacocks  spread  their  gaudy  plumage  to  the  cool  eve- 
ning air  as  they  strut  over  the  green  plain ;  the  giant 
crane  stands  statue-like  among  the  shallows  ;  the  peli- 
can floats  like  a  ball  of  snow  upon  the  dark  water ; 
and  ducks  and  waterfowl  of  all  kinds  splash,  and  dive, 
and  scream  in  a  confused  noise,  the  volume  of  which 
explains  their  countless  numbers. 


312        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

Foremost  among  the  waterfowl  for  beauty  is  the 
water-pheasant.  He  is  generally  seen  standing  upon 
the  broad  leaf  of  a  lotus,  pecking  at  the  ripe  seeds  and 
continually  uttering  his  plaintive  cry,  like  the  very  dis- 
tant note  of  a  hound.  This  bird  is  most  beautifully 
formed,  and  his  peculiarity  of  color  is  well  adapted  to 
his  shape.  He  is  something  like  a  cock  pheasant  in 
build  and  mode  of  carriage,  but  he  does  not  exceed  the 
size  of  a  pigeon.  His  color  is  white,  with  a  fine  brown 
tinsel  glittering  head  and  long  tail ;  the  wings  of  the 
cock  bird  are  likewise  ornamented  with  similar  brown 
tinsel  feathers.  These  birds  are  delicious  eating,  but  I 
seldom  fire  at  them,  as  they  are  generally  among  the 
lotus  plants  in  such  deep  water  that  I  dare  not  venture 
to  get  them  on  account  of  crocodiles.  The  lotus  seeds, 
which  they  devour  greedily,  are  a  very  good  substitute 
for  filberts,  and  are  slightly  narcotic. 

The  endless  variety  of  the  crane  is  very  interesting  upon 
these  lonely  shores.  From  the  giant  crane,  who  stands 
nearly  six  feet  high,  down  to  the  smallest  species  of 
paddy  bird,  there  is  a  numerous  gradation.  Among 
these  the  gaunt  adjutant  stands  conspicuous  as  he  stalks 
with  measured  steps  through  the  high  rushes,  now 
plunging  his  immense  bill  into  the  tangled  sedges,  then 
triumphantly  throwing  back  his  head  with  a  large  snake 
writhing  helplessly  in  his  horny  beak ;  open  fly  the 
shear-like  hinges  of  his  bill — one  or  two  sharp  jerks 
and  down  goes  one  half  of  an  incredibly  large  snake  ; 
another  jerk  and  a  convulsive  struggle  of  the  snake ; 
one  more  jerk — snap,  snap  goes  the  bill  and  the  snake 
has  disappeared,  while  the  adjutant  again  stalks  quietly 
on,  as  though  nothing  had  happened.  Down  goes  his 
bill,  presently,  with  a  sudden  start,  and  again  his  head 


Game  J3irds.  313 

is  thrown  back  ;  but  this  time  it  is  the  work  of  a  mo- 
ment, as  it  is  only  an  iguana,  which  not  being  above 
eighteen  inches  long,  is  easy  swallowing. 

A  great  number  of  the  crane  species  are  destroyers 
of  snakes,  which  in  a  country  so  infested  with  vermin 
as  Ceylon  renders  them  especially  valuable.  Peacocks 
likewise  wage  perpetual  war  with  all  kinds  of  reptiles, 
and  Nature  has  wisely  arranged  that  where  these  nui- 
sances most  abound  there  is  a  corresponding  provision 
for  their  destruction. 

Snipes,  of  course,  abound  in  their  season  around  the 
margin  of  the  lakes ;  but  the  most  delicious  birds  for 
the  table  are  the  teal  and  ducks,  of  which  there  are 
four  varieties.  The  largest  duck  is  nearly  the  size  of  a 
wild  goose,  and  has  a  red,  fatty  protuberance  about  the 
beak  very  similar  to  a  muscovy.  The  teal  are  the  fat- 
test and  most  delicious  birds  that  I  have  ever  tasted. 
Cooked  in  Soyer's  magic  stove,  with  a  little  butter,  ca- 
yenne pepper,  a  squeeze  of  lime  juice,  a  pinch  of  salt, 
and  a  spoonful  of  Lea  and  Perrins'  Worcester  sauce 
(which,  by  the  by,  is  the  best  in  the  world  for  a  hot 
climate),  and  there  is  no  bird  like  a  Ceylon  teaL  They 
are  very  numerous,  and  I  have  seen  them  in  flocks  of 
some  thousands  on  the  salt-water  lakes  on  the  eastern 
coast,  where  they  are  seldom  or  ever  disturbed.  Never- 
theless, they  are  tolerably  wary,  which,  of  course,  in- 
creases the  sport  of  shooting  them.  I  have  often 
thought  what  a  paradise  these  lakes  would  have  made 
for  the  veteran  Colonel  Hawker  with  his  punt  gun. 
He  might  have  paddled  about  and  blazed  away  to  his 
heart's  content. 

There  is  one  kind  of  duck  that  would  undoubtedly 
have  astonished  him,  and  which  would  have  slightly 
27 


314        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

bothered  the  punt  gun  for  an  elevation  :  this  is  the  tree 
duck,  which  flies  about  and  perches  in  the  branches  of 
the  lofty  trees  like  any  nightingale.  This  has  an  absurd 
effect,  as  a  duck  looks  entirely  out  of  place  in  such  a 
situation.  I  have  seen  a  whole  cluster  of  them  sitting 
on  one  branch,  and  when  I  first  observed  them  I  killed 
three  at  one  shot  to  make  it  a  matter  of  certainty. 

It  is  a  handsome  light  brown  bird,  about  the  size  of 
an  English  widgeon,  but  there  is  no  peculiar  formation 
in  the  feet  to  enable  them  to  cling  to  a  bough  ;  they  are 
bondjide  ducks  with  the  common  flat  web  foot. 

A  very  beautiful  species  of  bald-pated  coot,  called  by 
the  natives  keetoolle,  is  also  an  inhabitant  of  the  lakes. 
This  bird  is  of  a  bright  blue  color  with  a  brilliant  pink 
horny  head.  He  is  a  slow  flyer,  being  as  bulky  as  a 
common  fowl  and  short  in  his  proportion  of  wing. 

It  is  impossible  to  convey  a  correct  idea  of  the  number 
and  variety  of  birds  in  these  localities,  and  I  will  not 
trouble  the  reader  by  a  description  which  would  be  very 
laborious  to  all  parties ;  but  to  those  who  delight  in 
ornithological  studies  there  is  a  wild  field  which  would 
doubtless  supply  many  new  specimens. 

I  know  nothing  more  interesting  than  the  acquaint- 
ance with  all  the  wild  denizens  of  mountain  and  plain, 
lake  and  river.  There  is  always  something  fresh  to 
learn,  something  new  to  admire,  in  the  boundless  works 
of  creation.  There  is  a  charm  in  every  sound  in  Nature 
where  the  voice  of  man  is  seldom  heard  to  disturb  her 
works.  Every  note  gladdens  the  ear  in  the  stillness  of 
solitude,  when  night  has  overshadowed  the  earth,  and 
all  sleep  but  the  wild  animals  of  the  forest.  Then  I  have 
often  risen  from  my  bed,  when  the  tortures  of  mosquitoes 
have  banished  all  ideas  of  rest,  and  have  silently  wan 


Mysteries  of  Night  in  the  Forest.  315 

dered  from  the  tent  to  listen  in  the  solemn  quiet  of 
night. 

I  have  seen  the  tired  coolies  stretched  round  the 
smouldering  fires  sound  asleep  after  their  day's  march, 
wrapped  in  their  white  clothes,  like  so  many  corpses 
laid  upon  the  ground.  The  flickering  logs  on  the  great 
pile  of  embers  crackling  and  sinking  as  they'consume  ; 
now  falling  suddenly  and  throwing  up  a  shower  of 
sparks,  then  resting  again  in  a  dull  red  heat,  casting  a 
silvery  moonlike  glare  upon  the  foliage  of  the  spread- 
ing trees  above.  A  little  farther  on,  and  the  horses 
standing  sleepily  at  their  tethers,  their  heads  drooping 
in  a  doze.  Beyond  them,  and  all  is  darkness  and  wil- 
derness. No  human  dwelling  or  being  beyond  the  little 
encampment  I  have  quitted ;  the  dark  lake  reflecting 
the  stars  like  a  mirror,  and  the  thin  crescent  moon  giv- 
ing a  pale  and  indistinct  glare  which  just  makes  night 
visible. 

It  is  a  lovely  hour  then  to  wander  forth  and  wait  for 
wild  sounds.  All  is  still  except  the  tiny  hum  of  the 
mosquitoes.  Then  the  low  chuckling  note  of  the  night 
hawk  sounds  soft  and  melancholy  in  the  distance  ;  and 
again  all  is  still,  save  the  heavy  and  impatient  stamp  of 
a  horse  as  the  mosquitoes  irritate  him  by  their  bites. 
Quiet  again  for  a  few  seconds,  when  presently  the  loud 
alarm  of  the  plover  rings  over  the  plain — "Did  he  do 
it?" — the  bird's  harsh  cry  speaks  these  words  as  plainly 
as  a  human  being.  This  alarm  is  a  certain  warning 
that  some  beast  is  stalking  abroad  which  has  disturbed 
it  from  its  roost,  but  presently  it  is  again  hushed. 

The  loud  hoarse  bark  of  an  elk  now  unexpectedly 
startles  the  ear ;  presently  it  is  replied  to  by  another, 
and  once  more  the  plover  shrieks  "  Did  he  do  it?"  and  a 


316       Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

peacock  waking  on  his  roost  gives  one  loud  scream  and 
sleeps  again. 

The  heavy  and  regular  splashing  of  water  now  marks 
the  measured  tread  of  a  single  elephant  as  he  roams 
out  into  the  cooled  lake,  and  you  can  hear  the  more 
gentle  falling  of  water  as  he  spouts  a  shower  over  his 
body.  Hark  at  the  deep  guttural  sigh  of  pleasure 
that  travels  over  the  lake  like  a  moan  of  the  wind ! — 
what  giant  lungs  to  heave  such  a  breath  ;  but  hark 
again !  There  was  a  fine  trumpet !  as  clear  as  any 
bugle  note  blown  by  a  hundred  breaths  it  rung  through 
the  still  air.  How  beautiful !  There,  the  note  is  an- 
swered ;  not  by  so  fine  a  tone,  but  by  discordant  screams 
and  roars  from  the  opposite  side,  and  the  louder  splash- 
ing tells  that  the  herd  is  closing  up  to  the  old  bull. 
Like  distant  thunder  a  deep  roar  growls  across  the  lake 
as  the  old  monarch  mutters  to  himself  in  angry  impa- 
tience. 

Then  the  long,  tremulous  hoot  of  the  owl  disturbs 
the  night,  mingled  with  the  harsh  cries  of  flights  of 
waterfowl,  which  doubtless  the  elephants  have  dis- 
turbed while  bathing. 

Once  more  all  sounds  sink  to  rest  for  a  few  minutes, 
until  the  low,  grating  roar  of  a  leopard  nearer  home 
warns  the  horses  of  their  danger  and  wakes  up  the 
sleeping  horsekeeper,  who  piles  fresh  wood  upon  the 
fires,  and  the  bright  blaze  shoots  up  among  the  trees 
and  throws  a  dull,  ruddy  glow  across  the  surface  of 
the  water.  And  morning  comes  at  length,  ushered  in, 
before  night  has  yet  departed,  by  the  strong,  shrill  cry 
of  the  great  fish-eagle,  as  he  sits  on  the  topmost  bough 
of  some  forest  tree  and  at  measured  periods  repeats  his 
quivering  and  unearthly  yell  like  an  evil  spirit  calling. 


The  Demi-Bird.  317 

But  hark  at  that  dull,  low  note  of  indescribable  pain 
and  suffering !  long  and  heavy  it  swells  and  dies  away. 
It  is  the  devil-bird ;  and  whoever  sees  that  bird  must 
surely  die  soon  after,  according  to  Cingalese  super- 
stition. 

A  more  cheering  sound  charms  the  ear  as  the  gray 
tint  of  morning  makes  the  stars  grow  pale  ;  clear,  rich, 
notes,  now  prolonged  and  full,  now  plaintive  and  low, 
set  the  example  to  other  singing  birds,  as  the  bulbul, 
first  to  awake,  proclaims  the  morning.  Wild,  jungle- 
like  songs  the  birds  indulge  in  ;  not  like  our  steady 
thrushes  of  Old  England,  but  charming  in  their  quaint- 
ness.  The  jungle  partridge  now  wakes  up,  and  with 
his  loud  cry  subdues  all  other  sounds,  until  the  numer- 
ous peacocks,  perched  on  the  high  trees  around  the 
lake,  commence  their  discordant  yells,  which  master 
everything. 

The  name  for  the  devil-bird  is  "  gualama,"  and  so 
impressed  are  the  natives  with  the  belief  that  a  sight 
of  it  is  equivalent  to  a  call  to  the  nether  world  that 
they  frequently  die  from  sheer  fright  and  nervousness. 
A  case  of  this  happened  to  a  servant  of  a  friend  of 
mine.  He  chanced  to  see  the  creature  sitting  on  a 
bough,  and  he  was  from  that  moment  so  satisfied  of 
his  inevitable  fate  that  he  refused  all  food,  and  fretted 
and  died,  as,  of  course,  any  one  else  must  do,  if  starved, 
whether  he  saw  the  devil-bird  or  not. 

Although  I  have  heard  the  curious,  mournful  cry  of 
this  creature  nearly  every  night,  I  have  never  seen  one  ; 
this  is  easily  accounted  for,  as,  being  a  night-bird,  it 
remains  concealed  in  the  jungle  during  the  day.  In  so 
densely  wooded  a  country  as  Ceylon  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  owls,  and  all  other  birds  of  similar 
27* 


318        Eight  Tears'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

habits  are  so  rarely  met  with.  Even  woodcocks  are 
rarely  noticed  ;  so  seldom,  indeed,  that  I  have  never 
seen  more  than  two  during  my  residence  in  the  island. 

From  the  same  cause  many  interesting  animals  pass 
unobserved,  although  they  are  very  numerous.  The 
porcupine,  although  as  common  as  the  hedge-hog  in 
England,  is  very  seldom  seen.  Likewise  the  manis,  or 
great  scaled  ant-eater,  who  retires  to  his  hole  before 
break  of  day,  is  never  met  with  by  daylight.  Indeed, 
I  have  had  some  trouble  in  persuading  many  persons 
in  Ceylon  that  such  an  animal  exists  in  the  country. 

In  the  same  manner  the  larger  kinds  of  serpents  con- 
ceal themselves  by  day  and  wander  forth  at  night,,  like 
all  other  reptiles  except  the  smaller  species  of  lizard, 
of  which  we  have  in  Ceylon  an  immense  variety, 
from  the  crocodile  himself  down  to  the  little  house- 
lizard. 

Of  this  tribe  the  "  cabra  goya"  and  the  "  iguana" 
grow  to  a  large  size  ;  the  former  I  have  killed  as  long 
as  eight  or  nine  feet,  but  the  latter  seldom  exceeds  four. 
I  have  often  intended  to  eat  one,  as  the  natives  consider 
them  a  great  delicacy,  but  I  have  never  been  quite 
hungry  enough  to  make  the  trial  whenever  one  was  at 
hand.  The  "  cabra  goya"  is  a  horrid  brute,  and  is  not 
considered  eatable  even  by  the  Cingalese. 

One  curious  species  of  lizard  exists  in  Ceylon  ;  it  is 
a  little  brown  species  with  a  peculiarly  rough  skin  and 
a  serrated  spine.  A  long  horn  projects  from  the  snout, 
and  it  is  a  fac-simile  in  miniature  of  the  antediluvian 
monster,  the  "  iguanodon,"  who  was  about  a  hundred 
feet  long  and  twelve  feet  thick — an  awkward  creature 
to  meet  in  a  narrow  road.  However,  the  crocodiles  of 
modern  times  are  awkward  enough  for  the  present  day, 


Outrigger  Canoes.  310 

and  sometimes  grow  to  the  immense  length  of  twenty- 
two  feet. 

It  has  frequently  surprised  me  that  they  dp  not  upset 
the  small  canoes  in  which  the  natives  paddle  about  the 
lakes  and  rivers.  These  are  formed  in  the  simplest 
ma«ner,  of  very  rude  materials,  by  hollowing  out  a 
small  log  of  wood  and  attaching  an  outrigger.  Some 
of  these  are  so  small  that  the  gunwale  is  close  to  the 
water's  edge  when  containing  only  one  person. 

Even  the  large  sea-canoes  are  constructed  on  a  simi- 
lar principle  ;  but  they  are  really  very  wonderful  boats 
for  both  speed  and  safety. 

A  simple  log  of  about  thirty  feet  in  length  is  hollowed 
out.  This  is  tapered  off  at  either  end,  so  as  to  form  a 
kind  of  prow.  The  cylindrical  shape  of  the  log  is  pre- 
served as  much  as  possible  in  the  process  of  hollowing, 
so  that  no  more  than  a  section  of  one  fourth  of  the 
circle  is  pared  away  upon  the  upper  side. 

Upon  the  edges  of  this  aperture  the  top  sides  of  the 
canoe  are  formed  by  simple  planks,  which  are  merely 
sewn  upon  the  main  body  of  the  log  parallel  to  each 
other,  and  slightly  inclining  outward,  so  as  to  admit 
the  legs  of  persons  sitting  on  the  canoe. 

A  vessel  of  this  kind  would  of  course  capsize  im- 
mediately, as  the  top  weight  of  the  upper  works  would 
overturn  the  flute-like  body  upon  which  they  rested. 
This  is  prevented  by  an  outrigger,  which  is  formed  of 
elastic  rods  of  tough  wood,  which,  being  firmly  bound 
together,  project  at  right  angles  from  the  upper  works. 
At  the  extremity  of  these  two  rods,  there  is  a  tapering 
log  of  light  wood,  which  very  much  resembles  the  bot- 
tom log  of  the  canoe  in  miniature.  This,  floating  on 
the  water,  balances  the  canoe  in  an  upright  position  ;  it 


320        Eight  Years'   Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

cannot  be  upset  until  some  force  is  exerted  upon  the 
mast  of  the  canoe  which  is  either  sufficient  to  lift  the 
outrigger  out  of  the  water,  or  on  the  other  hand  to  sink 
it  altogether;  either  accident  being  prevented  by  the 
great  leverage  required.  Thus,  when  a  heavy  breeze 
sends  the  little  vessel  flying  like  a  swallow  over  the 
waves,  and  the  outrigger  to  windward  shows  symptoms 
of  lifting,  a  man  runs  out  upon  the  connecting  rod,  and, 
squatting  upon  the  outrigger,  adds  his  weight  to  the 
leverage.  Two  long  bamboos,  spreading  like  a  letter 
V  from  the  bottom  of  the  canoe,  form  the  masts,  and 
support  a  single  square  sail,  which  is  immensely  large 
in  proportion  to  the  size  and  weight  of  the  vessel. 

The  motion  of  these  canoes  under  a  stiff  breeze  is 
most  delightful ;  there  is  a  total  absence  of  rolling, 
which  is  prevented  by  the  outrigger,  and  the  steadiness 
of  their  course  under  a  press  of  sail  is  very  remarkable. 
I  have  been  in  these  boats  in  a  considerable  surf,  which 
they  fly  through  like  a  fish ;  and  if  the  beach  is  sandy 
and  the  inclination  favorable,  their  own  impetus  will 
carry  them  high  and  dry. 

Sewing  the  portions  of  a  boat  together  appears  ill 
adapted  to  purposes  of  strength  ;  but  all  the  Cingalese 
vessels  are  constructed  upon  this  principle :  the  two 
edges  of  the  planks  being  brought  together,  a  strip  of 
the  areca  palm  stem  is  laid  over  the  joints,  and  holes 
being  drilled  upon  each  plank,  the  sewing  is  drawn 
tightly  over  the  lath  of  palm,  which  being  thickly 
smeared  with  a  kind  of  pitch,  keeps  the  seams  per- 
fectly water-tight.  The  native  dhonies,  which  are  ves- 
sels of  a  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  are  all  fastened  in  this 
simple  and  apparently  fragile  manner  ;  nevertheless 
they  are  excellent  sea-boats,  and  ride  in  safety  through 


The  Last  Glimpse  of  Ceylon.  321 

many  a  gale  of  wind.  The  first  moving  .object  which 
met  my  view  on  arrival  within  sight  of  Ceylon  was  an 
outrigger  canoe,  which  shot  past  our  vessels  as  if  we  had 
been  at  anchor. 

The  last  object  that  my  eyes  rested  on,  as  the 
cocoa-nut  trees  of  Ceylon  faded  from  sight,  was  again 
the  native  canoe  which  took  the  last  farewell  lines  to 
those  who  were  left  behind.  Upon  this  I  gazed  till  it 
became  a  gray  speck  upon  the  horizon  and  the  green 
shores  of  the  Eastern  paradise  faded  from  my  eyes  for 
ever. 
****** 

How  little  did  I  imagine,  when  these  pages  were 
commenced  in  Ceylon,  that  their  conclusion  would  be 
written  in  England  ! 

An  unfortunate  shooting  trip  to  one  of  the  most  un- 
healthy parts  of  the  country  killed  my  old  horse 
"Jack,"  one  coolie,  and  very  nearly  extinguished  me, 
rendering  it  imperative  that  I  should  seek  a  change  of 
climate  in  England.  And  what  a  dream-like  change 
it  is ! — past  events  appear  unreal,  and  the  last  few 
years  seem  to  have  escaped  from  the  connecting  chain 
of  former  life.  Scarcely  can  I  believe  in  the  bygone 
days  of  glorious  freedom,  when  I  wandered  through 
that  beautiful  country,  unfettered  by  the  laws  or  cus- 
toms of  conventional  life. 

The  white  cliffs  of  Old  England  rose  hazily  on  the 
horizon,  and  greeted  many  anxious  eyes  as  the  vessel 
rushed  proudly  on  with  her  decks  thronged  with  a  liv- 
ing freight,  all  happy  as  children  in  the  thoughts  of 
home.  The  sun  shone  brightly  and  gave  a  warm  wel- 
come on  our  arrival ;  and  as  the  steamer  moored  along- 
side the  quay,  an  hour  sufficed  to  scatter  the  host  of 

V 


322        Eight  Tears'  Wanderings  in  Ceylon. 

passengers  who  had  so  closely  dwelt  together,  as  com- 
pletely as  the  audience  of  a  theatre  when  the  curtain  falls. 
That  act  of  life  is  past — '•'•exeunt  omnes,"  and  a  new 
scene  commences.  We  are  in  England. 

A  sudden  change  necessarily  induces  a  comparison, 
and  I  imagine  there  are  few  who  have  dwelt  much 
among  the  Tropics  who  do  not  acquire  a  distaste  for  the 
English  climate,  and  look  back  with  lingering  hopes  to 
the  verdant  shores  they  have  left  so  far  behind.  The 
recollection  of  absent  years,  which  seem  to  have  been 
the  summer  of  life,  makes  the  chill  of  the  present  feel 
doubly  cold,  and  our  thoughts  still  cling  to  the  past, 
while  we  strive  against  the  belief  that  we  never  can  re- 
call those  days  again. 

How,  as  my  thoughts  wander  back  to  former  scenes, 
every  mountain  and  valley  reappears  in  the  magic  glass 
of  memory !  Every  rock  and  dell,  every  old  twisted 
stem,  every  dark  ravine  and  wooded  cliff,  the  distant 
outlines  of  the  well-known  hills,  the  jungle-paths  known 
to  my  eye  alone,  and  the  far,  still  spots  where  I  have 
often  sat  in  solitude  and  pondered  over  the  events  of 
life,  and  conjured  up  the  faces  of  those  so  far  away, 
doubtful  if  we  should  ever  meet  again.  Thus  even  now 
I  picture  to  myself  the  past ;  and  so  vivid  is  the  scene 
that  I  can  almost  hear  the  fancied  roar  of  the  old  water- 
falls, and  see  the  shadowy  tints  which  the  evening  sun 
throws  upon  the  tree-tops.  My  old  home  rises  before 
me  like  a  dissolving  view,  and  I  can  see  the  very  spot 
where  it  was  my  delight  to  live,  where  a  warm  welcome 
awaited  every  friend.  And  lastly,  the  faces  of  those 
friends  seem  clear  before  me,  and  bring  back  the  asso- 
ciations of  old  times.  Those  who  have  shared  in  com- 
mon many  of  these  scenes  I  trust  to  meet  again,  and 


A  Glance  at  Old  Times.  323 

look  back  upon  the  events  of  former  days  as  landscapes 
on  the  road  of  life  that  we  have  viewed  together. 

For  me  Ceylon  has  always  had  a  charm,  and  I  shall 
ever  retain  a  vivid  interest  in  the  colony. 

I  trust  that  a  new  and  more  prosperous  era  has  now 
commenced,  and  that  Ceylon,  having  shaken  off  the  in- 
cubus of  mismanagement,  may,  under  the  rule  of  a 
vigorous  and  enterprising  governor,  arrive  at  that  pros- 
perity to  which  she  is  entitled  by  her  capabilities. 

The  governor  recently  appointed  (Sir  H.  Ward)  has 
a  task  before  him  which  his  well-known  energy  will 
doubtless  enable  him  to  perform. 


THE     END 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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